Fire Emblem the Self Insert Number A bajillion
by longherin
Summary: I'll have a better title in the future, I swear. Nerdboy gets dropped into the Awakening Universe, and hilarity ensues. Rated M so I can have more wiggle room with certain concepts, and so my brain can continue to function with its doctor recommended dosage of colorful language.
1. From - OH GOD THE SKY

I dream.

I dream that I am falling.

I dream that I am plastered against my bed, while staring down into the sky, holding on for dear life.

I dream that I somehow let go.

…

Wait.

Shit I'm actually not dreaming

FUUUUUCK

…

…

Ok, that woke me up. Thank goodness I wasn't higher up.

The impact still made me breathless.

Think later, float to surface now.

…

Floatation complete, assessing damage.

…

I'm ok, I'm definitely ok.

Where's the shoreline.

It's…that way.

Swim.

I wish I wasn't so exercise deprived.

…

_No point working yourself out to exhaustion, take it nice and easy._

…

Ok, shoreline reached.

Ugh.

Water tasted salty.

…

Salty?

I'm on a coastline somewhere?

Well shit.

It's also not night.

Double well shit.

It's…well it's about as spring as it is at home.

Uh…

Great.

…

Let's…walk. Yeah.

…

Man, and to think I enjoyed walking in a thunderstorm when I was little.  
Seriously, one minute I doze off reading webcomics and the next I'm walking down a dirt road dripping wet in the middle of god knows where.

…This sounds awfully familiar.

_Like Asleep._

Yeah.

…

Hope the guy keeps going. His work is good.

_Not like you can read it in…here…_

If we're drawing parallels I might actually be in the Fire Emblem-verse.

If only I was in the Fire Emblem girls universe instead.

_And have it crash painfully on your head every time you open a map._

A fair price to pay.

_You would probably have become a girl in that universe._

…Yeah that might cause some problems.

…

Woo I found a house.

Well, a house attached to a farm.

It looks…wow I'm actually getting a little nostalgic.

_Focus._

Let's see… ah ha, person sighted.

Alrighty then.

"Hello there!" No need to get totally antiquated now, do I?

_You're assuming they speak English instead of, say, Japanese._

I'm fucked either way, so who cares?

…

I don't have my glasses so now I'm horribly shortsighted.

…

Wow my eyesight has degraded since 8th grade.

_You're like double that age now._

Well, yeah, but still.

I see a blurry shape moving back and forth, I'm gonna guess since it was marginally short long and limber it was her arm and not a giant loaf of bread.

"Greetings to you, traveler. You look…waterlogged." She said, somewhat warily.

I laugh. It sounds forced, which it is. "I had a small incident on a boat." A small giggle from the lady. "Can I trouble you for some information?"

I hear a gruff voice behind me. "Oh, a traveler? What kind of information do you need?" Must be the husband.

"Well, where am I?"

Momentary silence.

"You're on the eastern border of Ylisse, young lad."

Eastern border?

So we're nowhere near Tutorial Town then.

Shit.

"Ah, I see. Uh…"

"Are you alright?" I think he's worried about me squinting like nuts.

"Yes, I seem to have lost my glasses." This could be really bad, especially since I don't have the means to pay for a new pair.

"Ah, I see…here, wait a moment."

…

And then he puts something into my hands.

"I'm not much of a magic person, but I found this in my house earlier today. This must be fate." He laughs.

It's a pair of glasses. Built like my good ones, but…heavier.

Oh well. It means I can see clearly now.

_The rain is gone~_

"Why don't you come in for a while? The day's still young." I can see his…concern?

_You fell off a boat and had no idea where you were._

Ok, fair point; anyone with a right mind would be worried.

"I shouldn't; I need to be somewhere, and being this far off course isn't going to help me." I bow my head. "I thank you for this gift."

He scratches his head. "It wasn't mine, and my wife's never seen it before. So it must be yours."

Ah, the joys of being untainted by the internet.

I wave them goodbye.

In retrospect I have no idea where I'm going.

_Should've asked for a map._

…

…

…

Ah ha, a town.

Good timing, too. It's getting dark.

…

…

Well, I guess this means I hit my first roadblock. Number one, I have no money.

Number two, I have no idea where I am.

Number three, I have no idea if I could survive where I am.

…

Man, this is like, so bad it swings clear around to hilarity.

On the plus side I scored some free food from the church. It's just bread but better than nothing.

_But is it gluten-free?_

What is gluten, anyways?

Should've looked that up when I had a chance, I suppose.

…

…

_**BOOM.**_

…

That didn't sound normal.

Look up into the sky.

There're no giant glowing eyes of doom and apocalypse. Good.

So it means…

Shit, I need a vantage point.

Oh well, come out into the main streets from the side ones.

…There's a fire in the town.

There're multiple fires in the town.

Who the fuck sets fire to a town

I mean really

_Brigands, duh._

"Everyone! Hurry and put out the fires! Leave the bandits to us!" I hear…it sounds like…swivel head, peer.

…Yeeep. It's Stahl. Stahl plus some foot soldiers, probably local militia.

Still, Stahl was all the way out here during the prologue, I see.

Stay focused. Bandits are afoot.

Let's see…I can hear screaming, I'm guessing the bandits are a cause of it.

_You don't say._

Weapons, weapons…That's a pole. Spear. Good enough.

…

Laughter. Terrifying laughter. No voice actor can do that justice, my goodness.

Here they come!

The foot soldiers are…not bracing against the charge What the fuck are you guys doing

Dying. Dying is what they're doing. The first charge against the soldiers gave the brigands the advantage of momentum and the soldiers just couldn't make up the difference. Much screaming ensues.

These militia are not battle tested, obviously.

_You're not, either._

Point. Which means I'm probably going to die horribly.

Bandit saw me.

Adrenaline time.

The man is running…running…

Jumping…

Ok.

Step deep in forward, brace with shoulder.

Bandit jumps into the spear, and it promptly breaks into the man's ribs.

I was expecting it to be better. Shit.

Axe head overshot. Good.

Readjust the grip. I now have a shiv instead of a spear.

Left arm, back hand punch into bandit face.

Bandit recoils. I guess his surprise overrode his adrenaline?

Fine, continue the attack!

Wood shiv into the man's throat!

Woo, blood everywhere.

…

Shaking now.

Second guy coming in. How many of them were there? Twenty?

Pick up the axe the guy dropped, watch the enemy closely.

…He's swinging in sideways.

RUSH

FULL BODY TACKLE

Ok that axe hit, fuck.

Left arm is now non-responsive.

Spin on the spot with the axe, and…

Axe to the stomach!

Axe is now stuck, and the bandit is not down.

SHIT

Enemy axe

Backstep fast fast fast

Whew.

His swings are slower.

Second swing, coming from the right.

Step in chop to the back of the attack arm elbow. Uppercut on the elbow as well. He drops the axe.

Left arm elbow to the side of the ribs.

Left arm elbow again to the back of the head.

Right arm punch punch punch punch punch punch

Right to the stomach!

Coup de grace: Step out, left arm cross to the back of the head.

He's down.

Whew.

…

All the other bandits are dead.

I guess the militia was better than I gave them credit for.

…

Stahl's sword is bloody as hell; I guess he killed most of them.

Man is badass even before he gets twenty levels of strength, health and defense. Nice.

"Thanks for the help, man." Stahl breathes out. "Sumia was right on the money with this intel." He says as an afterthought.

So Sumia's trainee experience involves scouting, pretty smart.

"Darling," Ah fuck, Maribelle. "All the fires have been extinguished."

Maribelle, Maribelle…oh how I am mildly irritated by you.

"Who's this?" She says after she rides up on her high horse.

If the lighting was any better I would say she's looking at down at me.

"A traveler who's experienced some boat issues." I say with a slight bow. She's nobility, might as well play the part. God do I not like her.

"I see…" Sigh. Seriously, sigh. "You're quite…" I guess she's looking at the guy rolling on the ground, because punches from a skinny arm not aimed at a vital isn't really fatal. "…skilled, for a mere traveler."

Well…

I shrug. "I make do with what I have."

Stahl laughs. "Well, either way, the Shepherds thank you for your assistance towards Ylissean peace." Some cheers around.

Well, I know what the Shepherds are, but I'm a traveler.

"Shepherds?"

Maribelle sniffs. "We are the elite knight unit under direct command of the Prince of Ylisse, responsible for keeping the peace within our fair nation."

I want to strangle the woman. How does she sound so…arg, all the time?!

She sighs a little bit. "On behalf of the Shepherds, this is for you." She hands me a book.

Uh…

Wait.

Aaand she rides off.

"Come visit us if you're in Ylisstol in the future. The Shepherds could use a resourceful man like you." Stahl says as he rides off.

Resourceful? I broke a man's arm and punched him until he collapsed. I'm not sure what definition of resourceful that fulfills…

Speaking of the unconscious guy, the militia carried him off. I feel slightly sorry for him.

…

So what's this book?

…

I can't read it in the middle of the night. Right.

"Hey lad, got a place to stay for the night?" I hear a voice behind me.

It's…the innkeeper? All the NPCs look alike.

"I could certainly use one." I laugh a little bit.

He laughs harder. "Come with us then, it's on the house."

…

…

_Well, you killed a man today._

Yeah.

_Any feelings about it?_

After cleaning the blood off my hands…

No, not really; the man made his choice and paid for it.

_He could have had friends, family, and so on._

And he had no issues with endangering other people who also had friends, family, and children. His relatives are not responsible for his choices.

Sleepy time.

…

…

…

Beds in the pseudo medieval-era are pretty nice, I have to admit.

Then again I guess cotton hasn't changed all that much.

…

…

…

Now then, I have a map.

And Ylisstol is…that-a way.

…

Being a ground pounder sucks.

…

So what's this book Maribelle gave me?

…

It's…filled with geometric pictures.

I wish I had a calculator.

Well, I can do trig inside my head, but I'd rather have a calculator.

_First world problems._

So much.

"Oh my, now isn't this a surprise."

…

Right.

We're on a road.

And people travel on roads.

"I didn't know you were headed to Ylisstol, uh…" Stahl said, stopping short when he realized he didn't know my name.

Hmm…

Eh, why not.

"Ash, at your service." I say, complete with a little bow.

"Charmed, I'm sure." Man, if sarcasm could be bottled for money she'd be…well, richer than she is. "I am the lady Maribelle, pleased to make your, um, acquaintance."

Oh yeah, she's actually not totally pompous; only pompous most of the time.

"And I'm Stahl. Nice to meet ya." Stahl extends a hand from his horse, which I gladly shake because Stahl is a cool guy.

Also he's actually got a strong grip by virtue of actually doing manual labor.

_I didn't know fighting counted as manual labor._

Potato potatoe.

_Poor Dan Quayle._

Whatever happened to him nowadays anyways?

"Lady Maribelle," I say, with as much sarcasm I could slap onto a four letter word as I can. I don't think she got it since she sat up a tad straighter. "Mind telling me what this book is?"

Ha.

Right. She's big on diction, and I think I just failed, like, every last one of her checks.

But thankfully Stahl stole her thunder. "It's a book on basic magical theory she received back in town as a thanks for her healing."

Stahl earned himself two (light) bonks to the head during that sentence.

Maribelle tossed her hair, as a proper lady is bound to do. "I shall not touch combat magic until my Troubadour training is complete. You, on the other hand, seemed a perfectly reasonable recipient for this spell book."

So Fire Emblem spells are somehow based on trig.

_Still, might want to refrain from using it until you can get someone like…what's her name. To teach you._

Miriel.

_Yeah._

"So this spellbook doesn't actually cast, it's just a trainer?" I ask nobody in particular.

_Might want to start walking again._

Yeah.

…

…

"A small child gave this to me as a present, and it bears no use to me, a staff wielder. Thus, it is better served bringing knowledge to another." Maribelle said once I asked her why she's giving it to me. Seems oddly cold for her, since I know she has a heart thanks to her social supports…

"Don't question it." Stahl whispered. Well, fine. She's a little terrifying when angry.

…

Well, I guess I just encountered my first roadblock.

Everyone speaks English, but the written language is marginally different.

This is gonna suck really, really hard.

...

"Well, not all that uncommon to be illiterate, mister adventurer." Maribelle says with a wide but oddly non-evil-looking grin. She just looks smug.

…

Wait, what?

_Remember that Fire Emblem is, at its core, still a semi-medieval era story._

…

Since the majority of the main cast tend to be nobility it was never an issue, huh…

_It was in the Nino Merlinus support in seven._

Yeah, but otherwise the issue is more or less glossed over.

…

Which means non-religious based slavery, diseases, and all the other fun medieval things are a high reality.

"Oh, did I say something wrong?" I hear Maribelle say, a little taken aback.

I think my facial expression changed pretty hard if she sounds surprised.

…

_Well, let's take a moment and think about this. The presence of magic, especially restorative magic, implies that diseases are comparatively less of an issue in here than it is in the real world._

And at the same time the staff's 200 gold a pop. I don't see a lot of people wandering around with that much gold just lying around, unless they were the bad guys.

Yeah, the common man in Fire Emblem games have never been portrayed as being anything remotely close to being well off.

_Serfs at their finest, I see…_

…Well, no point jumping to conclusions before I see anything.

"Are you done debating with yourself?" Stahl asked a little uncertainly.

I blink. "Yeah, I'm done. What gave it away?"

He chuckled. "You were muttering under your breath about the price of a restore staff and…serfs? Mind if I ask what a Serf is?"

Well, shit. Cat is…

Cat is out of the bag.

_Deploying emergency cat capturing cardboard box._

"A term I once heard used for a poorly paid servant." I say with as much "I don't care" attitude as I can manage.

"Around here we call them peasants." Maribelle says almost instinctively before blinking in surprise. Well, she is a noble.

…

A horse comes up from in front of us, and it's…Sumia?

Let's see…yep, looks like Sumia. She's missing her Pegasus knight armor and is wearing something light and leather-looking in exchange, but it's definitely Sumia. So she's a Cavalier now?

_She's scouting, remember? She doesn't get her Pegasus until chapter 3._

Oh yeah.

…

Stahl and Maribelle waves goodbye and rides on ahead.

…

And I get to bury myself in the book until I walk into something.

Wonderful.

…

Ok, since I'm actually alone right now I can make some assessments.

Number one, it's the Fire Emblem universe; that much is obvious.

Number two, I've arrived at some time prior to the Prologue, considering how there wasn't bright glowing eyes of doom during the first night.

Number two point five, It's fair to say I've arrived quite a few days prior considering the difference in Sumia's equipment and locational differences, which means if I don't reach a walled town prior to giant glowing eyes of doom I stand a serious risk of being killed out in the open.

Number three, I'm wearing a set of local clothes as a reward and I got to trade the brigand axes for a spear.

_The odds of you using it in any serious fashion is literally zero._

Better than a sword, since I can't use it at all.

Number four: Magic is a thing, and odds are if I want to be alive I need to master it.

…

Number five: By being here I've changed the flow of the story already, the question depends on how much it's changed, with the worst case scenario being…

Number six: I have zero reason to believe that this is the default timeline instead of the one that leads down into the Future Past DLCs.

…

Well, shit.

And, of course, number seven, I'm still technically illiterate.

…

…

…

Y'know, I have to give props to the people who built their inns within one day walking distance of each other.

Makes things so much easier; probably get more business because of that, too.

_Those inns would probably be the first things to burn to the ground once the invasion begins._

…

…

Why do weird vapor zombie monsters enjoy setting things on fire, anyways?

_It's kind of a given for most things. Everything just suddenly catches on fire when bad things happen._

…

…

Speaking of catching on fire…

The invasion of the glowing eyes of doom is starting a little earlier than I thought.

…

Shit, he wasn't kidding. They're literally everywhere WHOA

Ground has fractured.

Get out of the building, now.

"Everyone out of the building! MOVE!" What do I get from just saving myself?

…

Let's see…there's around ten people myself not included.

…

And…wow, it's really freakishly bright.

Not gonna lie, this is utterly terrifying.

…

And the first zombies land.

…

We are so fucked, we are SO fucked.

"Grab whatever weapons you can find. We're getting out of here." I say to the others.

_Eyes up front, zombie incoming._

He's got an axe. Since he doesn't bleed, we'll just stab him until he goes down.

Side swing incoming, backpedal hard.

Swing misses, alright, step in, jab!

_Hit confirmed. Zombie gives no fucks._

Having no pain receptors will do that. It's a tougher than I gave it credit for, too. Pull spear out, and WHOA ok that was close.

_Having no pain receptors will let it do that._

"Don't let your guard down!" Mystery person behind me says, and the Zombie thing bursts into flames. A mage.

…Actually, that mage sounded rather familiar. Now's not the time to worry about it though.

…More Zombies.

God that's a lot of them.

"What in the name of the Gods is going on?" A man yells behind me. The Zombie Apocalypse is going on, pay attention. "What are those things?!"

Yeah, yeah.

"Yell later, focus now." Good thing the Risen are actually pretty quiet at a distance.

_Which is a problem if you think about it._

Worry later, kill now. "Where's the nearest village?"

"Down the road, that way." A man says behind me, pointing to the direction I travelled from. Figured as much.

"Good, we're going in the opposite direction." More Risen, and looks like they noticed us.

The Risen as an individual is pretty ignorant of their surroundings, I guess? How do they hear or detect, anyways?

_Focus._

Right.

"What, why?! The village is safe!" The man yelled.

I point at the Risen. It's a testament to how bright it is that he could see me at midnight. The glowing eyes of doom aren't vanishing any time soon, are they?

"We head to a village, we drag all of them with us. Think you can kill every last one of these bastards on the way there?" Silence. "Didn't think so. Form up, and get ready." We're all pole arm users, for some rather loose definitions of a pole arm. "If you can't stab, just whack them with the stick."

Some affirmatives. Well at least I'm being listened to.

"Oy, mage." I need his help.

"I'm here." He says. He sounds really familiar, not gonna lie.

"I need you to pick off every Risen we stop. Think you can do that?"

I hear a smirk. I think it was a smirk. "Something like that is well within my capabilities."

…Laurent? It might be Laurent. Small world if it is.

Risen are coming closer now. One or two is charging.

"Fight them as a group, don't get separated, and most of all, don't run; if you do you'll just be surrounded and cut down."

Mage behind me opens fire and burns a Risen to the ground. Three more are charging in.

The fire caught the attention of more Risen though, so we're against…what, twenty, thirty Risen? Sheesh.

…

The Risen are actually charging at me, aren't they?

Welp.

We're against…sword, sword, spear. Ok.

Jump out of the way, get nicked by a sword.

Ouchies.

I'm faced against…one of the swords, the other two went for the other folk.

Said other folk have spread out and are haphazardly trying to stab the Risen, while said Risen swing wildly at them in return.

My Risen is…jab DODGE to the RIGHT and OH MY GOD

Sword is so much harder to deal with than an axe. WHY THE FUCK IS THIS SO FAST

I WISH I PLAYED MORE DARK SOULS

AAAAAAH

UH

OK

NERDBOY DESPERATELY NEED HELP

_No help comes to someone YELLING in his MIND._

AAAAAAAAAH

…

…

He's been doing nothing but OH LORDY jabs for the past few hits and DODGE MORE

Ok

Ok

I can do this

Backpedal hard and keep the weight on the toes.

I'm so glad I don't have armor on now.

Risen is chasing.

God I hope they die to pierce damage.

Risen jab!

Spear forward, brace, aaaand…

_Thunk._

Wow. They're like…bad AI. Risen just impaled himself on the spear.

And vanished in a puff of smoke.

…

Was that a critical hit?

I hope it wasn't a crit.

We can kill them a lot easier if that wasn't a crit.

Second one incoming.

…

Lunge forward with spear.

_Thunk._

Another chest hit.

I guess all they have are basic motor skills?

_Or there's a cool down period for coming through the giant glowing eyes._

Said giant glowing eyes have vanished. Now all that's left are the light of the moon and the stars.

I wish we had a fire.

…

I can't believe I just wished for something to be on fire.

…

Mage ignites a small fire on the tip of his hand, so I can get some idea on what's going on as we huddle around the tiny fire to prevent it from being seen.

We're short two faces, and I can't tell how many Risen are left, but I can't hear any more combat going on, just Risen groans and shuffling. We had thirty, but if nobody's fighting anymore then we're left with zero?

Probably not. We're a fair distance from the two dead guys.

_I guess that means we abandoned them without even knowing it._

"Shit. Alright, let's get out of here." I say in a slightly-loud whisper. "Do we have any torches?"

"I got one here." One of the men says, tapping something on his belt. "Sure it's a good idea to light it right now?"

…

"Probably not. Keep together and let's move."

…

…

…

I can hear the shuffling of feet and breath, and very muted small talk between some people.

I really wish that nighttime in reality would be as bright as nighttime in Hollywood.

On the plus side I don't hear any Risen anymore.

_I'm a little confused as to why that's considered a plus._

…

Although to be fair this is a lot like being at my grandparents in my childhood, where the skies were clear enough to see the stars and not covered with a layer of whatever is floating up there now.

So it's bright enough to see shapes but not enough to see faces.

…

…

…

I raise a hand. I don't know how long it's been but no more small talk is going on.

All the footsteps stop, and I hear...

"Anybody else hear that?"

Sounds like combat.

"Yeah; sounds like cavalry. Not too far away from here." The mage said, pointing with his arm so we could see it to a direction off the road.

"Are we going to get involved?" One of the other men said with an unusual amount of indignation.

"We should; if the things they're fighting against wins they might catch up to us if we go ahead." I shrug in the darkness. I don't think anyone saw that. "Besides, cavalrymen usually aren't poor like the rest of us."

I heard a few chuckles; nobody found that funny but we're a little bit terrified right now.

"Alright, lead the way." The mage nods (I think) and heads forward.

…

Yeah, definitely sounds like combat. If only because the Risen are being very loud about it. I can hear a horse every once in a while though.

_Who do you think have horses way out here and the combat power to fight?_

It would be our luck if it was...

…

Yep, it's Stahl.

Raise your hands if you're surprised.

He's guarding what looks to be a…

Ok who builds a shrine to a patron god this far off the beaten path? At least it's well lit, I guess…

_There're probably civilians in the shrine._

Makes sense; otherwise why protect it?

"Everyone form up, we're going to charge into the enemy ranks and take the pressure off of that horseman."

"You sure about that?" Is that the same guy? He sounds about as skeptical as the guy that was indignant. Same levels of "I don't want to do this" in their voices.

"You're free to leave if you want." I shrug. The "Go ahead and die on your own" I didn't say instead was palpable.

…

Alright, nose towards the Risen…and…

Move the feet!

...

_Fifty paces!_

LEEEEEROY

...

_Fourty paces!_

OH GOD THIS WAS A HORRIBLE IDEA WHY DID I EVER AGREE TO THIS

_YOU GAVE THE IDEA YOU IDIOT_

I DIDN'T THINK FAR ENOUGH AHEAD

_Thirty paces!_

…

Count of Risen: twenty or so.

Stahl is…yeah his horse is dead. No shit Sherlock, why were you mounted while protecting a stationary target?

Probably didn't have the time to dismount.

_Twenty Paces!_

How long was he fighting?

Where's Maribelle and Sumia?

…

No time to worry about that, making contact…

_NOW!_


	2. From - Outside a Shrine

COME ON

STOP. MOVING.

GAH

RISEN.

STOP BEING SO AGILE

QUIT. TRYING. TO. KILL.

STAHL GODDAMMIT

SO I CAN STAB YOUR HEART

ARG

_Having a little trouble there?_

Apparently Risen can only be killed through an attack to where its heart is. Anything else just plain will not work.

So either I crit or I do no damage, what is this bullshit?!

Apparently nobody else has scored a direct hit since all the damned Risen are still standing since five minutes ago.

_And the cherry on the top: they're not even paying attention to you._

HOW DARE YOU IGNORE MY ATTEMPTS AT ZOMBIE MURDERIZATION

Fine. Let's try something else.

Use spear's not-pointy end. Find a Risen…

And swipe at its legs!

It was not very effective...

_Did you forget you had skinny arms?_

Kinda, yeah.

Uh…well, shit.

...

Plan C. Take a step back and assess the situation.

Stahl is blocking the doorway to the shrine by himself with a sword and small kite shield. He's using the doorway as effectively as possible to force the Risen to attack at him one at a time. He's also stopped attacking for a while and has only parried, likely because after hacking off two or three limbs and seeing zero change in aggressiveness he figured buying time was more important. _Guess that means there might be a second entrance._

God I hope not.

Better check. "You, over here." I say, pointing to one of the guys lagging in the back. Then again I stopped fighting entirely so I'm in no position to talk about enthusiasm.

"What, what is it?" He sounds terrified. Don't blame him.

"Circle around the shrine and check for any additional entrances. Make it fast." He…says something as he leaves. The Risen is too just too loud.

Ok, continue to monitor situation.

The militia is trying to kill the Risen, but since there are no clean hits to the core none of them actually died so far; the mage isn't using magic, for whatever reason (does magical fire burn?). And as a result the Risen is paying zero attention to any of us. This implies that Risen will only attack secondary targets if those targets actually succeed in dealing damage.

…

Come to think of it, the fact that the mage isn't attacking might be because he knew this about the Risen. It's not like we're organized by any stretch of the imagination…

I'm now willing to bet money he's Laurent.

…

Ok, we need to get organized. It's probably idiotic to assume the Risen will pay zero attention to us forever.

…

Yeah. Yeah. Shit. One of them just got stabbed in the head and now all of them (except the ones attacking Stahl) have turned around.

We're outnumbered two to one and…morale. FUCK_._

One of the Risen just swung around with his axe out and cut down one of the guys. And now everyone's backed off a handful of steps.

While the Risen advances forward slowly.

…

Aaand now everyone has run away.

_I'm not remotely surprised._

Risk your life for someone you've never met. What could possibly go wrong?

_Maybe it's because you're not a girl?_

So now it's…what, three against twenty?

Oh well.

_You seem oddly calm._

I seem to have gone so far into terror I broke the limit and it swung straight back into tranquility.

Anyways…step back, stay near the shrine, and watch for the ones that get a little ballsy.

Speaking of ballsy, hello number one.

Plant the heels, raise spear, brace, and…

Wow, they practically aim for the spear with their center, like some…I dunno, deranged zombie masochist?

_That comparison makes no sense._

…

Flash of red to my side. The mage has finally opened up with fires. And he's…aiming straight for their center. The man definitely knows what he's doing.

Need to keep the Risen from getting smart and just rushing me down, so walk nice and steady…

Ballsy number two.

And three.

Shit.

Backpedal. They're all sword or axe users. Huh. Interesting.

Whoa that was close

…

And now they're all running at me.

FUCK

I am screwed

So screwed

"To me!" I think hear someone yell. I see a puff of fire. I think it was the mage yelling.

I'm gonna believe it was the mage yelling. Can't hear a thing over the Risen's...whatever speech they're doing.

Welp. Run like hell to him.

…

Y'know, I don't know why anyone would look behind them in a movie where they're being chased, especially when it's dark and you can hear the massive amounts of footsteps.

_I'm sure they're about to jump on you at any moment. See? one of them's coming after you with its sword already raised over its head, ready to strike as soon as you slow down..._

…

And I just tried to look behind me.

_Hehehehe_

Imagination is a bitch sometimes.

**WOOSH**

A ball of fire just flew by my head. Followed by another, and another, and another…This guy is damn good.

And he's hitting the center every time, if the sound of something heavy hitting the ground every time he shoots is any indication.

_Throw dots, more dots, more dots. Ok stop throwing dots._

Now's not the time, brain. Also I don't want him to stop throwing d-FIRE. fire.

…

The mage has a Risen behind him.

Fuck.

"Behind you!" I yell.

The mage doesn't even turn around; he just blasts the area behind him with a very wide area-of-effect fire spell. And then continues to shoot the ones behind me. Pretty sure there's like, two left.

…

…

Final tally: Me: two. Mystery mage: everyone else. Magic OP, please never nerf.

_Stahl?_

Shit. Stahl.

Look to the shrine entrance, lit up by a torch, and…

He's ok. Whew.

He looks a bit not-ok though, but he's alive and has all of his body parts attached.

…

"Might as well bring that torch out now." I say to the mage, who does this head nod and head tilt combined expression that feels like "sure, why not?" and brings out his torch, and lights it up.

...Wow that's a lot of Risen body parts littered near the entrance.

_I guess that was why you were ignored? Stahl just drew so much aggro?_

I don't think reality works like that, but either way he's done so much damage before we got here we were literally just mopping up.

...

Come to think of it, I wasn't paying attention to the limbs of the Risen at all, but it did feel as if a lot of them had missing arms.

And now those arms limbs on the ground vanish in a puff of smoke.

So how many did he kill or dismember before we got here?

...

"Thanks for the help. Oh, you're that traveler from earlier." Stahl says, breathing pretty hard. His sword is quite a bit shorter than it was than when we got here and the shield is in tatters, with only the metal parts intact. It's too dark to see what's really going on though. "Right; get in, we're going to barricade the entrance until the sun comes up; it's too dangerous to move during the night anyways."

I nod, remembering that it's still the night, and say "Got it."

So we move some boxes to the entrance under the proviso that if they're disturbed we would know about it, since we don't have nails or planks.

This is the worst barricade I've ever seen. At least some of the boxes are stacked to go up to your knees, which is nice.

…

As we enter the main room, and…torchlight says there's no other entrances.

Which reminds me.

_The other guy ran away too, probably._

Sigh. The muttering he did was most likely colorful and very disagreeable.

In the shrine is…a mix of, oh, maybe thirty villagers? Mostly women and children; Maribelle is tending to the wounded without her staff in sight (largely just cleaning and bandaging wounds) and Sumia is...tending to some of the children.

_Who will probably be orphans before the week ends._

Nothing we can do about it.

...

Maribelle looks ragged, must be due to a lack of a frilly dress in favor of...a nightgown with a coat over it, and not having time to do her hair.

Sumia's in her leather scout armor thing that makes her look like the common soldier, except with no metal parts...can't really see from here though.

And Stahl...well, Stahl looks like hell. his armor is badly dented almost everywhere, and sections of it along the outer edges is outright missing. Good thing the Risen don't really bleed or his armor would be utterly unrecognizable.

...

Stahl sits next to a wall, tosses his equipment to the side, and lets out a huge sigh. I sit next to him.

His body heat is like, radiating. How long has the man been fighting?

"There seems to be a lack of men around here." I mutter to him.

"We didn't have the time." Stahl said bitterly. Got the women and children out first, I see.

_Only got the women and children out, more like._

"What happened to you guys, then?" I couldn't help but ask.

Stahl shakes his head, and…

Then he's asleep while sitting down. Alright then, the man probably deserves a lot of it.

I move away from him, since he needs his sleep.

Maribelle has no staff, and Sumia had no…whatever weapon she uses as a scout. Probably a spear, since she uses it later. Going by the logic that they probably have been fighting and travelling for…well, longer than I have, their weapons were probably broken long before they got here.

"Oh, it's…Ash, isn't it? Hello." Sumia says, as she gets the little kids to sleep (though it's probably just exhaustion overcoming their fear) and comes over to me, the newcomer.

I had to take a moment to parse the fact that I used a pseudonym.

"Yeah, and you're…Sumia, right?" She…I dunno, I guess she nodded since I heard something move. The mage had moved the torch to Maribelle and she's on the other side of the room.

"Uh-huh. How do you feel?"

"A little shaken." Adrenaline is wearing off, and I'm actually shaking a lot, if my voice is any indication. I take a deep breath. "But otherwise alright. How about…well, all of you? What happened?"

She sighs. "We were at the next village over" which meant we were heading to a graveyard, wonderful. "when those things dropped out of the sky. Stahl rallied the local militia and they fought until overwhelmed to keep an escape path open, but in the end, well...those things were impossible to kill." Which might be why Stahl was chopping off limbs instead of trying to go for a heart or head hit.

"After that, we travelled here and…well, then more of them showed up." Can't help but feel as if she's skipping something, but oh well.

…

Oh, that's the end of her story. Uh…

"What happened to the militia?"

"We agreed to split the refugees up to avoid drawing attention."

…

Well, it makes some sense, but in the night?

Fucking death sentence.

"Well, shit." I mutter under my breath.

"You should get some sleep, Ash. You don't look too well." Sumia says.

She says I don't look well, which is probably true, and then she...

Is in the processing of passing out. Actually passed out.

Considering the circumstances I'd wish they could get some sleep outside of the uncomfortable armor.

_You know…_

No.

_Here are some of the things you can do to her in her sleep._

INTERNET THOUGHTS! BEGONE! FOUL IMAGINATION!

_I guess you're right. Good night._

Wait what

…

…

...

…

"Hey, you ok over there?"

What

What am I doing

My face is old and stony and my glasses are pressed into my face

"Hey, sleepy head." It's a small girl's voice. "Wake up."

Uh…

Where am I?

There's a small girl giggling over my head.

And I'm on the ground.

And it's loud, well, a sort of hushed loudness. A lot of things are happening but nobody's really talking.

_Slept well?_

Nope. Right side of body is complaining about sleeping on the stone floor.

I sit up.

"Yay, you're up!" Says the cheerful little girl.

"Yeah. Thanks, little lady." I get up, and stretch, and the girl runs over to…her mother I suppose, and Maribelle.

She's a little difficult to recognize with her hair in a mess like that instead of the curls.

_Remember what happened?_

Um. I was talking to Sumia, then she clocked out, and then…

My brain exposed itself to the internets and then proceeded to run out of juice.

Judging by the fact that my face is still intact I guess I blanked out against the wall and then slid onto the floor.

_Here's all the things you could've done to Sumia a few hours ago._

EVICT the bad THOUGHTS from my HEAD by YELLING in my HEAD

…

...

Stretching finished. Let's see…the door's that way...the barricade was undisturbed. Wow, that's pretty impressive, considering that it was literally a very easily surmountable ankle-high fence. I guess the lack of sound from the shrine after the battle helped? Vapor Zombie sensory inputs confuse me.

_This means the Risen are blind, as far as their fallen comrades are concerned._

Not necessarily. Especially if the Risen…let's step outside for a moment…yeah, the Risen corpses vanished. Damn.

_You could've dissected one of them._

Yeah, I really should have. Oh well, plenty of chances in the future.

_Do they have a taboo against dissection here?_

Probably not against the undead.

"Oh, you're up. How was your rest?" Stahl…looks disheveled as hell, but still cheerful. It doesn't feel forced either, which is...either very good acting on his part or he's just that optimistic. Standing outside in the morning light, his armor is so seriously damaged I'm surprised it's holding together.

"Considering the circumstances, the best sleep I've ever had." I'm not even sure how long I slept. I want a watch.

Maribelle walks over in a huff. "Sir Stahl," Sir? "Perhaps we should hurry." Wow, that stare. What the hell did I do to her?

_Here's what you could've_

NO

"Ah, yeah, you're right." There're no horses in sight (except the dead one that used to belong to Stahl that's been moved to one of the farther walls of the shrine). "We need to get out of here before more of those things show up; can you move?"

…

What happened to the mage? I don't see his pointy hat anywhere.

"Ash?" What? Oh.

"Yeah, I'm good to go." And then I look at the spear in my hand. "Does anyone of you want this?"

Maribelle raises an eyebrow, but doesn't say anything.

"I figured a trained soldier would use a weapon better than me." I shrug, and then offer the spear to Stahl.

He sheepishly takes it. "I'm not sure if I'll be better than you while on foot, but thank you."

I really wish the mage who may or may not be Laurent stayed around.

…

"So how far is Y-uh, where we're going from here?" Almost forgot I'm a stranger and supposed to have no idea where we're going.

"We're heading to Ylisstol by cutting through this forest. It'll take a little while but it probably will be safer than walking on a main road." Sumia said; she can't really scout while on foot so she's walking along with everyone else.

Her clumsiness is also a bit overblown, as she's only tripped once every five minutes without a serious fall.

_Or maybe her clumsiness is inversely proportional to the smoothness of the floor?_

I wouldn't be surprised if that's how it goes.

…

Maribelle what are you doing

_She's gathering plants, some flowers, and some other stuff._

Well, yeah, but that doesn't really explain what she's doing.

_Maybe you should just ask her._

Hell no. I do badly enough around normal, well-adjusted women.

_Since when are you normal? Go after the odds ones._

Fair point, but still. She scares me.

_Here're some scenarios that could happen_

NO GODDAMMIT

…

…

Midday, we're breaking for…food? I guess this is one of the reasons Stahl chose to cut through the forest; there are small bunches of fruit trees that I'm assuming are safe to eat.

"Have to thank Chrom later." I heard Stahl mutter. Well, even as a stranger I should be privy to gossip, so I should know who Chrom is.

"What did he do?" I ask.

"He pulled some weight to get fruit trees and other food bearing trees and shrubs scattered through Ylisse. It makes marches easier." Stahl bites into a fruit. "Well, it was probably Fredrick's idea, but it's the best idea they ever had."

It certainly makes a small group like the shepherds move around easier.

"I'm surprised you know the name of our prince." Maribelle says lightly. Why does everything she say sound mildly insulting?

"His...lack of finesse is fairly well known." I shrug, after spending slightly too long to find a way to word it.

Fortunately Maribelle dislikes me enough already that I don't think she thought too much of it.

She also carries a dedicated fruit knife.

_Here's what she can do with that knife_

Let's not go there

_Too late_

...

Wait, what...

Yeah.

Stahl just grabbed the spear. My ears weren't playing tricks; the civilians have all stopped talking, even in hushed tones.

I'm reminded of cats all of a sudden, when they're surprised by a loud noise and just freeze. Or most small animals in that case.

"Sumia, over there." Maribelle said, pointing to a direction to her…left? Her left, my right, towards a bunch of trees. While continuing to carve the fruit with her knife. She's really good with that knife, which is terrifying for various reasons

_focus_

Stahl drew his spear and motioned for all the civilians to get down lower, which they try to do.

Sumia nods and…wow she's really fast on the ground.

Very surprised, and very impressed. So why is she trip-happy?

"Darling." I think she only uses that term when she's trying to be derisive I swear "can you fight without weapons?"

"I'll manage." I shrug. Maribelle looks…unconvinced, to put it lightly.

"Well, don't die; it won't be good for morale."

Stop waving the knife in my face please

…

Five minutes pass, and there's Sumia, coming back from her scouting mission.

"More of those things," She said in a semi-whisper. "There's three of them, but it doesn't look like they're doing anything."

Stahl got up. "If we leave them alone they might come after us in the night; I'll be back in a few minutes."

You're not fighting them alone. I get up. "I'm going along."

Stahl looks…well, not very convinced.

I shrug. "You need someone to watch your back; no discussions, let's get this over with."

He shakes his head. "Well, it's your choice."

Sumia opens her mouth, and Stahl cuts her off. "Stay with the group; we don't know if they're the only ones here."

She nods and goes to sit with Maribelle.

…

There're not a whole lot of trees here, let's see…yeah, three Risen. Armed with…nothing, since they are Revenants.

_So we're looking at super sharp claws of pain and sadness._

Wonderful. On the other hand, no reach advantage for them anymore.

"So, how're we doing this?" Stahl asks. Why ask me?

"Let them come to us." I say as loudly as I can without shouting.

The Risen immediately snaps to attention and wow their eyes are red as shit.

_No clear eyes in the smoke zombie afterlife._

Must be horrible.

They're charging without a care in the world, huh…

_Aren't they supposed to have horrible hearing?_

Guess it's a case by case thing, but more importantly right now,

"Go for center of mass hits." I say, and back up to use a tree as cover, dragging my feet on the ground for the louder noise.

The Risen break off…one on Stahl, two on me. Good. Might not be good for my health, but good overall.

Stahl braces with his spear and the Risen…impales itself onto the spear, but it wasn't a direct center hit, so now Stahl has a live Risen skewered on his spear trying to rip his face off. So he bodily tackles the Risen to free it from his spear and then stabs it harder on a shoulder, trying to make the claws less of a problem.

_Focus._

One Risen had ran straight into the tree since it was jostling for position with the other one and lost. The second one is charging with his hands over his head.

_Did you think about how you're going to actually kill it?_

Nope.

Overhead swing incoming, crouch and dive forward into its legs.

Ow. Vapor zombie legs ending in goo are oddly solid, all appearances aside. My shoulder hurts now.

It has tripped over my body though, which is good.

It has landed face down behind me, which is better.

…

It is now beginning to slime into the ground. Which is bad.

_You don't say._

Ok, decision time.

…

FULL POWER KICK TO THE HEART

OH THAT…didn't hurt…at all? What?

Nevermind a ribcage or anything, but it should, like, stand up to a single physical hit at least.

Debate later, devastate now. STOMP AGAIN

FUCK OK that actually hurt because my foot made contact with the ground. The Risen vanished almost immediately.

That being said I actually did kill it though…well, I can ask Miriel later, I guess.

Second guy has…detangled himself from the tree (How the hell did he get tangled to begin with? Risen aren't utterly stupid) and is…side swiping. Back away really really fast.

…Oh. I guess the fact that it almost cut a tree down in a single swing might explain why it was lodged in a tree.

Still, it's lodged in a tree with its back towards me. Don't mind me as I capitalize on your failures.

Though I could do without the 180 degree head turn.

Punch to the Risen's back!

…

And again, no resistance. It feels like…I stuck my hand in smoke. It's weird.

Found something warm. Uh…

_Quick Time Event! _

Crush Weird Warm Center Mass in hand.

…

Again, no resistance. The Risen vaporizes, leaving the gigantic claw marks on the tree.

Y'know, this means I might be able to insta-kill Risen on touch.

_Feel like trying it out on every Risen you meet?_

…No, not really.

…

Stahl.

…

Wow, Stahl pinned the Risen to a tree with the spear via its neck and is actually punching the shit out of the Risen. On the head. Repeatedly.

If his enemy wasn't a weird vapor zombie thing this would actually be bullying.

…

After about (another?) twenty or thirty punches the head comes clean off, and then the headless Risen vaporizes.

Stahl pulls the spear out of the tree.

I clap, because honestly that was the most badass thing I've seen so far.

Stahl twists around and whoa that is a murderous expression if I've ever seen one. He then goes back to his normal face.

I...I guess the eternal laid-back average guy has his moments, too.

"Don't tell anyone about that." He says.

I nod, because I don't fancy what would happen if I was on the receiving end of serious!Stahl.

…

"We're clear; the Risen have been taken care of." Stahl says after we wander back to the group. I think we've been gone for like fifteen minutes or so.

Maribelle nods and waves for everyone to get going again.

…

Stahl and I are on the front of the pack this time, Sumia a bit further ahead since she has better eyes (makes sense, being a flyer and all) and Maribelle in the center of the civilian group, talking with the people like a normal, well-bred, and most importantly a warm person.

I think I'm dreaming. Although the lack of the noblewoman equipment probably helps with the whole mingling thing.

"How did you kill those things back there with just your bare hands?" Stahl asked. "We could only hurt them with our weapons, and only under extreme circumstances." Like when you punch it until the head comes off.

"I'm not sure; but when I went for its center there wasn't any resistance." Which is the truth; I have no idea what's going on.

"Sounds useful." Stahl muses.

I shake my head. "Imagine trying to punch one of them that actually have armor." The armor from the armed Risen stays around after the Risen vanishes but they disintegrate extremely quickly.

Stahl sighs. "Oh yeah. I was kind of hoping we had a secret weapon around." He grins.

Me too, Stahl. "Me too."

…

…

As the second day march ended…

I realized just how quickly morale dropped once the sun started to set.

We can't build fires for fear of both burning down the forest and drawing the Risen to us, so the little kids that were in relatively high spirits during the daylight just cowers into their mother's arms.

Hell, I think we're all a little bit scared here. Except me; I'm actually terrified.

Oh, and we're taking a detour. Apparently the woods thin out a bit to make room for a small farm. Not quite sure who owns it but the general consensus is whoever used to own it is probably dead. So Sumia, being the one with the eyes and the scout training, opted to go ahead and see if there's anything to use while we make our way ahead in the darkness.

Yes, thanks to Maribelle we opted to continue moving while hungry and exhausted in the dark in the forest canopy.

_You seem to be very against the idea._

Yes.

_And yet you're still going along with it._

Because the forest at night populated with zombies and zero light is worse.

I wish it was winter, or at least really early spring. Or late fall.

Really, any amount of time where the canopy doesn't block out the moon.

…

On the plus side we've

_Don't say it._

Right. (Haven't seen a Risen all day)

…

Oh hey, everything just lit up like the fucking day.

_You just HAD to think it, didn't you._

I had to complete the sentence!

The skies are, once again, filling with glowing eyes of zombie teardrops. On the plus side there seems to be marginally less than last night.

"Use the light." I say suddenly, making everyone jump. "Move, quickly, while we can see."

I see Stahl nod. "Yeah. Please hurry, everyone."

And so we double time it.

…

Why are our feet so loud?

Why are the leaves so loud?

…

We're running faster and faster.

The fear is really getting to us.

_Pace everyone._

Yeah.

I drop my pace a little, and refuse to go any faster. Maribelle catches up, glances at me, and her eyes widen just a tiny bit.

And then she drops her speed to match mine.

…

Eventually everyone's moving at the same speed, not getting faster any more.

Fear, for a brief moment, is replaced by order.

Breathing gets easier, the running gets easier...

…

…

Until one of the Risen plops like right in front of us.

I mean seriously canopy, you're not doing a good job.

Keep the fucking zombie from raining on our heads please?

…

The center is in its upper chest, lung area...left? or so this time.

Ok then. Before it has a chance to collect itself…

Sprint!

_Risen has stood up, his axe is now going over his head…_

But I'm right here in front of you and my hand is going into your throat.

_If it was any more solid this would be utterly disgusting._

I look like I'm reaching into a jar that's taller than I am. Only, y'know, it's alive, gurgling, and very much unhappy with the sudden intrusion.

Found the center.

CRUSH.

Ooh, I have to admit, I'm channeling a little Persona Four and it feels GOOD.

…

"How did you know where its heart is?" Maribelle asks after we continued in a few moments of silence. I did note that the space around me is eerily empty all of a sudden, though.

_It's almost like reaching into a zombie to crush its soul (or whatever) isn't conducive to making friends_.

"It just felt…right, I guess?" I'm not entirely sure myself. "I wanted to ask a mage about it, but, well."

Maribelle looks rather offended. "I happen to be educated in the magical arts, why didn't you ask me?"

Uh…because you're terrifying? "I figured a question like that would be more suited to someone practicing magical combat."

She makes a weird noise I barely catch. "Quite astute of you."

Now I wonder what would've happened had I actually asked her.

…

No more Risen showed up around us (or at least harassed us) for the rest of the night, thank god.

And we've hit the edge of the trees, so the farm buildings are in plain sight.

_I hope Sumia's alright._

Dying offscreen sucks.

…

While we would like to keep the children away from the blood and gore, the ultimate feeling was that we're in no position to be separating right now, considering the grave lack of energy of everyone involved.

Hell, my right eye has all but shut down at this point: it's just a giant blind spot in low light, which is generally what happens when my body declares that it is now no longer capable of functioning in the dark.

Considering I've been exercising all night (more or less) this is like, five times the energy I'd normally use, and—

_Oy._

Right. Mind wandering.

Stahl and I take the lead.

…

And we arrive on the farm, which is…

Uh.

Really clean. There's no sign of a struggle at all.

This is both good and bad.

Good because at least Sumia would be unhurt.

Bad because she might not actually be here.

I feel a tap on my shoulder, and look at Stahl pointing to…the main farm house door slightly open.

With blood trails illuminated by the light coming from the inside.

…

…

…

This is not good, on so many fucking levels.

The three of us charge into the house without even a second thought, and see…

Blood on the ground, trails of it, not splatters, which is very, very good.

And Sumia, who looks like…

"Move it." Maribelle pushes me out of the way and brings out her staff, immediately bathing Sumia in the healing light.

Her armor looks like it was cut and burned in many, many places. They seemed to have avoided her face and head, fortunately.

_Which means…_

That they were…let's just...leave Maribelle to her work for a second and look around.

Yeah. Let's do that.

_Dodging the question doesn't make it any less real._

…

The room is fairly normal: a cabinet, some crates, some smashed crates, and a bed, and...

An odd looking wall.

"Ash?" Stahl asks as I walk over to the odd looking wall and push it.

Nothing.

Push harder.

A rattle, but the wall didn't give, so…let's try running into it.

…

Ow. But it opened, and…whoa.

It's an armory.

"This is an odd farmer." Stahl mutters while looking over the stashes of swords, spears, bows, and arrows just lying around. Also a few stacks of bucklers.

I, on the other hand, see the large cloth with six eyes emblazoned on it hung on the wall like a banner.

Well it's a good thing I played the game or I would have absolutely no reason to believe in any kind of foreshadowing whatsoever.

_To be fair you'd see as foreshadowing even if you knew nothing about the game. Want to tell everyone about it?_

That there's a terrorist group operating in Ylisse? Except...

No reason to believe the Grimleal are huge now though; they only show up as a serious plot element after the two year time skip.

"They have a weird taste in decoration though." I say, pointing to the cloth.

I am now so tired I'm not getting up from the door I rammed down with my entire body.

Stahl looks at me, lying down on the ground, and then looks up at the cloth. "Indeed." He then goes around and starts reequipping himself.

Well, I guess I should peel myself off of the comfortable door I'm falling asleep on.

And get some gear of my own. Let's see…I don't know how to use any of this shit, but a sword that goes on my waist, two knives that go on my belt, arrows on my back, and a bow, also on my back.

"Do you know how to use any of that?" Stahl asks after I finish strapping in the gear, also taking some vulneraries and putting it in a second belt I found.

_You're like a belt away from becoming a final fantasy character._

Pssh. I'm more like fifteen belts, three zippers and a tragic past away. Also I would need more bishonen-ness.

"Not a clue, but it'll be better than not having it." My only regret is that there's no armor, but it's not like it'll help all that much right now anyways.

…

"How's Sumia?" I ask, after getting enough courage to step out of the safety of the armory.

_I think Stahl was in there for the same reason as you were, mind you._

Maribelle sighs after…packing up the bunch of plants she picked along the way, along with her staff. "There's no danger to her life, fortunately, but I don't think she'll be moving for a few days." She then made like a tsk noise. "I believe the prior owners of this _farm_ were illegal slave traders; the world has just gone insane and they're still focused on money, ridiculous."

I think she dropped her noble-speak for a moment.

But Sumia is…

"So there's no lasting damage?"

Maribelle shrugs, very un-ladylike. "Can't say for the moment; at least her enemies tried to keep their prey in one piece." She then stretched, got up, walked over to the bed, and collapsed into it. "Don't wake me up."

Uh…

Stahl shakes his head to ward off the sleep. "Let's take a look outside. Maybe there's something else in the farm area."

I nod, and we leave the house, taking care to close the door behind us. Considering the bloodstain still leading out of the house I don't think anyone would want to go in, which is nice, since I think if Maribelle is disturbed in her sleep she would, y'know, kill all of us.

...

Well, we're at the other building, the…barn. It's not big and red but it's a barn.

_You probably shouldn't try to describe things while exhausted._

Good call.

Looking inside…wow that is a shitton of wagons. Well, I can only see three, but I'm assuming there's more.

But we have no horses, so the wagons are totally use…less? Maybe they do have horses elsewhere?

I pose that question to Stahl, who's examining the wagons. He nods. "Can you take a look around the barn, then?"

I nod affirmative and go off on a jogging pace.

…

There's a stable on the further side of the barn, and judging by the look of it…

Quite a few horses were cut loose in a big hurry, but there are…three horses left? I'm not sure if they can pull enough carts to handle thirty people or so.

That being said some of them are children, so…

_Except of the three people that knows how to handle a horse one of them is out of commission._

Ok, that's a bit of an issue, especially since we need to get to Ylisstol as fast as we can; not meeting Chrom and, more importantly, Robin, is a huge issue. I can't backseat game if I don't know what's going on, after all.

Well, in any case…

"Stahl, there's three horses left. Do you think they can handle three wagons of people?"

"As long as we stick to the main roads it shouldn't be an issue; do you know how to control a horse?"

"Not at all."

Stahl sighs. "Well, that's somewhat inconvenient…let's get the horses over here first, then. Can you go wake up the girls?" WHAT "…later?" He adds after seeing my face.

_WARNING. WARNING._

"Uh…sure. I guess."

_MINEFIELD INCOMING_

…

Y'know, the fact that my body is generation an insane flight response right now concerning waking up Maribelle—while helping Stahl with the horses—is very much telling of how much more dangerous she is compared to the Risen.

At least I know I have an unexplained ace in the hole against those things.

_So how do you plan to wake her up without committing a felony?_

Uh…two options, really. Loud noise or physical contact.

_That second method seems a little suspect._

I get killed by everyone if I try the first (and it might not even work)

Or I just get killed by Maribelle if I try the second.

_Or you could stand behind her and turn your creep-meter to the max._

If I knew how to do that I would, but considering how tired we all are I don't think something like that would work.

_Project an aura of killing intent?_

I _dislike _Maribelle, I don't want to _kill _her.

_Not even fake wanting her dead?_

I don't think I can fake killing intent. How does that stuff work anyways?

"Ash." Stahl says. I think he caught the many, many looks cycling very quickly on my face, a majority of them somewhat related to either fear or abject terror. "Take a nap; you don't have to wake her up right now."

So…Stahl knows how dangerous she is when she's being woken up?

"How bad is she when she gets up in the morning?" I can't help but ask.

Stahl twitched. Talk about not good signs. "Well, uh, her mood gets worse if her sleeping arrangements are 'unfitting for a lady', as she puts it."

That's a very, very polite way to say "you are totally and utterly fucked" Stahl.

_Better you than him._

SIGH. So much sigh. I should probably take the knife from her first, just in case.

_I don't think she actually wants to taste your blood on her precious knife._

My blood is less valuable than her fruit, I suppose.

…

You know what, I don't care right now. The wagon looks really enticing, so I'm going to sleep there.

"Uh, good night?" Stahl says after I climb into the wagon and just lie down.

_Here's a—oh, you're asleep already._


	3. From - A Cart

Uuuuugh…

What's all that noise?

Why does my face hurt?

…

Uh…

I'm…

Oh, right. I passed out in a cart.

…

It's really damn loud outside.

…

There's a shitton of screaming outside.

SHIT

Get up, weapons…Everything I got is on me. Ok. Good. Move move move!

Oh lordy that's bright

Blink. Blink some more.

Ok.

…Yeah.

Shit.

…

Risen found us some time during the day.

Where…where is everyone?

Ok, calm down, look around, avoid tunnel vision.

…

There are some corpses on the ground. And…the risen are swarming around the building. Given the fact that they can't get in it's probably been barricaded somehow.

Once more, shit. How I wish this was a movie.

…

Stahl. Where is Stahl?

_There's no one outside here that's flesh and blood except you, but on the other hand Stahl's green armor is nowhere to be seen._

So he's probably inside the house.

…

There's…maybe thirty, fourty Risen. All focused on the door. Jesus.

Let's…circle around the house. There might be something I can find that'll help in a moronic situation like this…

…Ah ha. A window. Good thing Risen are really dedicated to murder.

_There's something wrong with that sentence._

Knock.

…

"Who…Ash?" I her…Sumia.

"Yeah, it's me. When did they get here?"

"Some while ago." I'm not sure what I was expecting, given the lack of clocks. "I only heard them when they attacked."

Which means they caught us all off guard. Damn.

"How many other people are in there with you?" I ask her. Need to move fast.

"Stahl, me, and maybe fifteen people. Stahl's holding the door for now, but…"

Hmm…

_Small, enclosed entrance, plenty of arms, people…I think we should play some total war._

Yeah.

"Sumia, can you get everyone who can to grab the longest spears they can find?"

"What? Why?" Right, I'm a nobody; almost forgot about that.

"Just…do it, we don't have that much time." If I yell, I lose cred. If I yell, I lose cred…

"Uh, right."

I hear her talking to the people inside, then some movement, and then…

"Ok, they're armed, now what?"

"Make a line circling the door, spears out. Take care not to poke Stahl." Most movement.

"There's not enough room for everyone to fit." Sumia sounds worried. Stahl might not be holding out much longer.

"That's fine. Ok, get Stahl to back up a little, give them a little room to come in."

"That's insane!"

_It is a little insane._

It's a lot insane. "As long as he can stop the Risen from piling in we're in good shape; have everyone else stab the ones that make it in." If they take a moronic amount of damage they'll die eventually, if I'm remembering this right. "And switch people once they get tired."

Ok, now I need to go back to the front.

…

Yeah. I have no idea if they're doing well or poorly.

…

Close my eyes, and feel…

Yeah, I can…kind of feel that core, the core of a Risen.

…

Unfortunately being able to see the bullseye on a dartboard isn't the same as actually being able to hit it.

Stay focused…the first attack needs to deal as much damage as physically possible, or I'm probably gonna die.

Ok. Doublehanding the sword because I desperately need the bonus to aiming properly. Focus…focus…

Aaand…

Stab!

…Nope, too far right. Wonderful. Pull out, and back off.

I've attracted expected attention. Maybe…half of them?

_You are utterly and totally fucked beyond all reason now._

No shit.

Well, I can see five in front of me…did…did their limbs bend like that before? That looks mildly uncomfortable.

Oh. Well. It can bend like that whenever it feels like it. Uh…

…On the plus side they're only shambling. Hell, that's all they're doing. Behaving very shambling zombie-ish. All groan and moan and no…bone? It almost rhymed.

_So we can back away at a leisurely pace. And fix your sense of danger._

…

You know, Romero zombie movies would be so much less interesting if the main characters saw zombies and just went "oh, that's too bad" and walked away at a leisurely pace. Might be why more recent ones can run and shit.

Well, if these guys are only shambling instead of going balls to the walls on murder then…

Well, one conclusion is that Risen can't naturally exist for very long.

_And if that's the case, then all a village would have to do is lock their gates when Risen are on the loose, assuming they have one. Although that might not be the entire case._

…

Yeah, Assuming if Risen weakens because of the…whatever effect that occurs when they get cried out of the sky, it's entirely possible for subsequent Risen to be resilient or immune to that effect. In which case, fuck all of us.

A different conclusion is that these Risen are weak because they haven't been eating well, which…well, they haven't desecrated any corpses, so that's out.

_You're assuming they eat people._

Well…yes.

_That makes you racist against the Risen, you know that?_

Given they're trying to kill all of us I can live with that.

…

Ok, I can't exactly keep running away, since it solves no problems.

But even with that weird weakness-detecting thing I can't land a hit.

_You could do it with your bare hand._

And apparently my bare hand can't conduct a sword very well.

…

In any case, let's take a look at the house for a moment.

…

The amount of Risen seemed to have decreased some. I think. Might just be a trick of the eyes.

Anyways…

…

Worst part about unenthusiastic and armed vapor zombies is their utter inability to separate from the group. Give me a range advantage goddammit!

…

Che. Having a heavy-ass sword in my hand is actually working against me: I'm too scared to attack since I can't disengage fast enough.

Fuck.

…

**_Darling, Can you hear me?_**

Oh

Oh no

Oh fuck no

**_Lead those things out into the open, will you?_**

_MARIBELLE IS PSYCHIC WE'RE ALL DOOMED AAAAAAH_

There must be a perfectly valid explanation for…uh, for…

Let's…let's just do as she says for now, uh…

The open, the open…

I'm out in the open, now what?

…

Maribelle?

…

I guess it was a one-way communication?

…

_Seems like it._

THANK EVERY GOD EVER.

…

Wings. I hear wings.

Look to the sky.

…

Winged horses.

Pegasus Knights.

Woo!

…

The lead lady, I don't think it's… the royal guard lady, whatever her name is… just drove her Pegasus down onto one of the lead Risen from almost a full vertical drop and trampled the thing outright. She then stabbed one of the other ones with her lance. Long spear, it's not what I traditionally would call a lance…

Too much time in the Total War games methinks.

Her wing..men? winggirls? Winglady? Followed suit and pretty much killed the five Risen really bloody quickly.

And there's the fourth rider, who is also carrying Maribelle, who looks like she ran through a forest and then some. Wow, girl, you look like hell.

"All units attack the monsters! Move!" The lead lady roared, and her Pe…

THE WINGSPAN ON THAT THING IS HUGE

Her Pegasus spreads its wings out flat and runs along the ground like your everyday horse.

Until it got within some pre-determined distance.

Then it flicked its wings slightly and rose off the ground, before diving downwards with the combined mass of both its charge and its (albeit slight) drop.

The end result is pretty much a door of dead Risen. She hit like three of them in one charge; the rest of the Risen have completely and utterly focused their attention on the newcomer Pegasus Knights.

The games really don't do these guys justice. The pegasi, I mean.

_No comment on the girls?_

Well, they have a fair amount of armor, but most of it seems to be leather or just metallic reinforcements instead of chainmail or something similar. More lightweight, I suppose?

…

While I was off on my tangent the Knights have pulled back while still staying on the ground, to the point where the Risen have been pulled entirely from the door to the house. There's still about a dozen left, though.

The lady flicks her lance and her two wingwomen take off, high enough to be totally out of reach.

_Like about twenty feet off the ground or so._

The Risen follow the two girls that are in the air with their glowy eyes, before settling on the lady that's still on the ground.

Hmm…

"Darling, don't think about jumping in to this fight." I hear Maribelle say. I presume she's talking to me, though her voice lacks the usual…bite.

"Not like I can do much here." I say back, barely turning around to make sure she heard me. And then I head to the house.

…

Stahl, you are a true boss. The man was using a table as a makeshift shield and a basket of swords stored in the armory was next to him. If the shrapnel on the ground is any indication he broke quite a few swords already.

"Whew. You're up! Good afternoon!" Stahl says cheerily. "You must've been very tired to sleep through an attack."

"Yeah, I guess." Mister reliable I am not. "When did they get here?"

Stahl shakes his head. "I heard a noise that must've woke me up, and I saw those things come near the house, so I dove into the house as soon as I could; pity I couldn't have been quicker." Considering there's still seventy percent of the refugees left I can sympathize with him.

"Well, you saved everyone else." I say.

"Speaking of which, is Maribelle outside? We have some wounded I'd like her to look at." Sumia piped up.

_These people were wounded because of YOUR suggestions._

…Yeah. "She is, but she seems a bit out of it." There're also four Pegasus knights outside kicking in heads, if the sounds of the Pegasus is any indication.

"Ok. Can you get…actually, let's get out of here. This place reeks of Risen." Stahl said, getting up and putting his table shield over the entrance. "Alright everyone, we're leaving!"

…

Stepping outside again, and…the Pegasus Knights have killed the Risen, but some of the Pegasus seems to be bleeding quite a bit.

The lead? Lady is talking with Maribelle, and they stop as soon as all us us (Me, Sumia, Stahl, and the refugees) come out of the house.

"I see you're alright at least, Sir Stahl." She says with a contented sigh. "And you too, Sumia."

Sumia…does what I guess is a salute. "Yes ma'am. Although…"

The lady nods. "I understand; you did what you could, no need to be ashamed." Then she looks at me. "And you, sir…are a traveler?"

I nod. "Yeah, though I seem to have picked a horrible time to travel."

She gives an emotionless chuckle. "Indeed. Lady Maribelle," she turns back to Maribelle, who's looking after the wounded refugees with small spurts of magic. "What are your orders next?"

…

What?

"Maribelle has authority?" I mutter to Stahl.

"We're Shepards. In times of crisis we're all ranking officers." He mutters back. Makes sense, seeing as they're the personal unit of the prince.

"Uhm…" Maribelle's distracted with taking care of the wounded and couldn't give an answer.

"Uh." I raise my hand slightly, and the lady looks at me with annoyance in her eyes. "How bad is the R- weird vapor monster outbreak in Ylisse right now?"

"Bad." Is all she says.

"I think…it would be best if we were to quickly report back to the castle; Chrom might get worried about us out here." Stahl says, with zero intention of making it an order.

The Pegasus Knight Lady salutes, with the full intention of having taken Stahl's suggestion as an order. "Yes sir, my squad can take you back to the castle at full speed."

Stahl looked sheepish. "Ah, well…" and then he was dragged off by the Lady.

Maribelle did some last minute heals, stood up, apparently got a little dizzy, and was supported by one of the other girls onto a second Pegasus.

"Sumia, you and…the traveler there"

"Ash."I helpfully add.

"Right, you and him stay with the refugees and escort them back to Ylisstol."

"Ash, the carts are prepared properly, have Sumia guide you on what to do." Stahl said, with an apologetic look on his face. I wave it off because honestly it's not his fault.

Sumia nods her affirmative, and the two riders take off. The other two are apparently staying around as actual armed escorts, neat.

…

...

…

From here on out, I'm gonna insist on having a cart every time. So damn good.

Sumia ended up guiding one cart and one cart only since we figured out we could squeeze everyone on to a cart if we let some of the other people ride on the Pegasus instead.

On a similar note, it turns out that there are, in fact, male Pegasus riders, but they're damned rare since most lightweight males in the military tend to go into magic anyways.

_Thinking of being one?_

Eh…I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall off at the first available opportunity, so I'll pass.

Plus…

Pegasus Riders don't seem to be very well armed, so they're effectively flying light cavalry. Which is perfectly fine, nothing wrong with that.

Also I felt vaguely self-conscious being the only guy on the cart.

…

Well, whatever. We're in Ylisstol now.

…

If the walls were any indication this place was sieged pretty hard. Parts of the wall is gouged out in several areas, and some of it looks burned. I know the Risen can use magic, but I don't think…no, a single Risen can't do this kind of damage. A swarm of them, on the other hand…

…

If the voices of the locals are any indication, the attack must've been pretty bad. People are still talking about, and judging by the sound of things there were enough Risen to overrun the walls; the fighting had spilled into the streets before the Risen were taken care of.

That implies Ylisstol's defenses are pretty shabby, or, at least, in dire need of mages to support them.

"So this is Ylisstol…" I hear a girl's voice behind me, and both me and Sumia turn to look.

…

Well, uh…It's not-quite-default girl Robin. Hair color's a little off, though it just might be because of…well, natural lighting.

_How can you tell that it's Robin?_

The tactician's coat.

Which means…yep, that's Chrom, Lissa, and Fredrick.

…So I got here a touch earlier than the Prologue, but otherwise the timetables lined up pretty well.

"Chrom!" Sumia says before diving into him. Interestingly enough I don't know if she did it on purpose or was running and fell. Either way Chrom has met Sumia outside the barracks.

"Sumia! When did you get back?" Chrom sounds happily surprised. I guess that means they have like rank C support long before the game even started. Oy.

…aaand now Lissa has jumped in for a group hug.

And now Chrom is on the ground.

And now I should look away before I get a glimpse up a pair of skirts.

_Aren't you a little late for that?_

_…_

After they had untangled themselves (with the help of Fredrick, who more-or-less pulled Lissa off with one arm), Sumia debriefed Chrom on the situation at hand.

Given how his face progressively dropped during the conversation it's fair to say he's not happy with the news.

"Ah, and who are you?" Lissa said, after apparently finally noticing my existence. Considering that this was after Sumia had introduced me I daresay she wasn't listening.

"Ash. Pleased to make your acquaintance, um…" I…guess it would be reasonable to not know who she is? Considering she's constantly under the shadow of Chrom's fame.

"Lissa! Pleased to meet ya!" She says with a bright smile on her face.

God, her good mood is infectious.

"You…don't really know who she is, do you?" Fredrick says, his eyes narrowing.

…

Here's to hoping I roll a twenty on bullshitting.

"Well, that's Lord Chrom, the Prince of Ylisse, and you're his devoted bodyguard. So that would make Lissa…the Princess?"

"Quite astute of you." Fredrick nods, still looking severe. "What were you doing in Ylisse?"

"Fredrick." Chrom said warningly.

"I wasn't doing anything." I shrug, which is true: prior to suddenly getting pulled into the world I wasn't doing anything. "I was travelling on a boat when I was washed off and found myself on the shoreline; after that, well…" I pointed to the sky with my thumb. "I get the feeling I'm probably not going to be travelling anywhere else soon."

Chrom nods. "In that case, how about you come work for the Shepherds until this crisis passes?" He says.

"Sir? Are you sure about this?" Fredrick's hand strays to his sword, just a tiny bit.

"From what Sumia has reported he was responsible for saving Stahl, Maribelle, and herself on multiple occasions."

"Largely because Stahl is quite good at his job." I mutter.

"Thus, I don't believe he's out for my life." Chrom said with a sigh, after seeing Fredrick's face.

Fredrick sighs as well. "Very well, sir, as you wish."

"Come on. We'll introduce you two to the rest of the Shepherds." Chrom says, leading the way.

…

Now that I've had a chance to actual look at Robin, she seems a bit…I dunno, more reserved than normal? She seems to have a habit of tugging on her sleeves so it covers her hand.

"What's that on your hand?" I ask her. Just in case.

She flinches superbly hard before putting her hand out of sight, and doesn't respond. I don't think this is normal behavior for an amnesiac.

…

Meanwhile, Lissa is being as friendly as friendly can be and stopping to talk to almost everyone on the street.

Given that the response from the peasantry is highly informal I guess she does this on a very daily basis.

And given how Fredrick skipped past the part where he chides her behavior and went straight into the exasperated sigh she definitely does this whenever she can.

…

Chrom.

I don't know how you're not noticing but you're being stalked by like a legion of fangirls.

…

Once we entered a set of walls, the fangirls had to stop, because they were all normal people. Huh.

…

On the other hand, the fangirl mob is now recreated but only with noble born girls instead.

I don't think the game ever addressed the walls of financial division.

…

…

"Ash, Robin, could I ask you two to wait out here for a little bit?" Chrom asks.

"Sure." I shrug. Robin nods.

Chrom, Fredrick, Sumia, and Lissa walk into the throne room, with Lissa giving off an excited squeal before the doors closed.

…

Welp, might as well test the waters.

I face Robin after a minute of screwing up my nerves.

"How much do you know?" I ask her.

She looks at me with bewilderment. I'm not sure if it was because I hit a bullseye or it was because I asked a stupid question.

Either way, no response.

…Fine.

"I know what's on your hand, Robin. I'm not an enemy." Take that as you will, girly.

She looks at me again, with her eyes full of fear.

…

And then immediately drops the reclusive girl façade.

"Damn. Who's side are you on, Naga, or Grimleal?" She asks with a low hiss.

"I'm on Chrom's side." I reply. My daggers are on my waist, I could probably pull them out fast enough if push comes to shove.

She relaxes a little. "Good . Then we're on the same page. What are you?"

Uhm? "I came through an Outrealm gate, if that helps any."

"No, it doesn't. But I get your point. What did you mean by 'how much did I know'?" She asks, her hand on her tome.

…

Shit, talk about a fine balance here.

…

"How much do you know about that symbol, and about those things." I explain.

"I…" She starts before she stops suddenly; the gate was being opened and we were told to go in.

We took about five steps into the room before one of the attending nobles drew a knife and tried to jump Robin.

"Damn you, Grimleal scum! Die!"

Welp.

I stand in front of Robin, because I don't think a fried corpse would make for a good floor decoration.

Overhead swing incoming.

Step in, left upper arm meets his right upper arm, 45 degrees…

Grab his arm with left hand, grab my left with my right hand, spin underneath his arm. His arm is now bent awkwardly and his sword is on the ground.

"With all due respect, _sir_," Fredrick says, stopping Chrom from drawing the Falchion. "We do not commit acts of violence based on the difference of religious beliefs. Kindly withdraw from the court."

I let him go, and the man grabs his sword, sheathes it, and leaves without another word.

I turn to look at Robin; she stares at me with annoyance on her face.

"You alright?" I ask.

Something goes off in Robin's head and she nods, looking utterly terrified.

Girl's got insane acting skills.

Emmeryn looks at the door with a frown on her face, before coming forward and bowing to Robin.

"I apologize for his actions; differences in beliefs can lead people to do horrid things. I hope you will forgive him."

Robin nods, and whispers something to Emmeryn, who gets up and smiles.

Chrom then clears this throat. "Ash, Robin, there's a very good reason I asked for you two in here, and, well,"

I shrug. "No harm done."

Chrom sighs. "Well, the reason being that…Fredrick, if you will?"

Fredrick nods and bade the two of us to kneel.

…

Per our achievements (if you can call it that) we were both given ranks of nobility and properly inducted into the Shepherds.

This means, literally, the Shepherds are a nobility only army.

But on the other hand, the definition of nobility is very, very broad.

…

[Later]

…

At dinner, everyone got introduced to everyone. I got to properly meet everyone except Virion, who was fawning over a Robin doing her best shrinking violet impersonation and being utterly adorable as a result (Lissa wound up nest to Robin and hugged the girl at every available opportunity, to Maribelle's immense disapproval) and Vaike, who ate really damned fast then bolted out of the room, yelling about training.

…

[Even Later]

…

I talked Miriel into giving me some basic magic lessons, before Ricken intervened and decided to teach me instead.

Works for me either way.

…

[Night]

…

I got to sleep in a real bed for once!

…

Apparently not for very long, since I'm now waking up to…a weight…on…me?

Silvery grey hair…Robin.

Robin? Why are you straddling me in the middle of the night?

"Robin, what do you want?" I ask sleepily.

"You're a horrid actor, you know that?" She says. "You didn't even flinch when the term Grimleal came up. Why?"

I guess that means everyone else did?

"I don't think I was the only one who didn't flinch." I say, now fully awake. She does me a favor and gets off the bed so I can sit up.

"Well, you, Chrom, and Lissa were the only ones who didn't, and Lissa doesn't count since I don't know if she knew what it meant."

…wow, sorry, Lissa.

"Well, the term is too removed for me to have any attachments to." I say.

"In other words…"

"I know what it means, but it has no value beyond that."

"I see…" I can almost hear her mind working. "What do you hope to achieve by joining the Shepherds?" She asks next.

...

_Isn't this obvious?_

"To crush Grima with overwhelming firepower."

"What?" She sounds…well, surprised. Not "whoa this guy's amazing" surprised but more "wow this guy's a fucking idiot" surprised.

"You heard me."

"Yeah, I did, I just don't think you've thought it through very well." She says at last.

"It has a physical body, it can take damage, therefore if I carpet bomb the shit out of it, it will die."

_That is the flimsiest logic I've ever came up with._

"And you say this to me, a Grimleal." She says flatly.

"I don't believe you are. Well, not this time." I say.

I hear her take a sharp breath. "So…you do know more than you pretend to." She says after a minute. "Well, fair's fair. I've inherited parts of Grima's memories."

So that means Grima's initial attack on her was partially successful?

"What do you remember?" I need to know how big the discrepancy is.

"Not much; most of my childhood I remember, including the part where I was taken by my mother and we escaped. I also know bits and pieces of what happens in the future, but it's too fragmented for me to properly use. What do you know?"

"Hmm…as of this point? Less and less. A lot of variables are changing on me."

"Wonderful." She sighs, before I hear rustling of clothing. If her shadow is any indication she just extended a hand. "To our combined efforts to kill a god."

I smile, though she can't see it, and take her outstretched hand. "To kill a god."

.

.

.

Author Notes

A little less focused than normal since...well, this is sort of an in-between thing and I couldn't find a place to transition very well. I don't think I found a place to transition very well still, but eh.


	4. From - Shepherd Barracks

I have to say: minor blessings are upon us for nobody caught her leaving my room in the middle of the night and thought badly of us.

…

…

"Good morning, Ash." I hear…Stahl? While I'm freshening up for the morning, with the first proper wash I've had since…being dropping in the fucking ocean.

"Morning Stahl." I say back, muffled a little by the towel on my face. "How was last night?"

"Eh? Ah." Stahl seemed surprised. _Your phrasing was odd. _"There were some more of those things that popped up last night, but I don't think there was anything serious."

For Ylisstol, maybe.

"Ah, that reminds me." I turn to look at him: Stahl without armor is...very regular. Unkempt brown hair, slight smile, white tunic, grey cloth pants. I can see why he would be the most normal person, despite having balls to the walls defense. "Chrom's called a meeting this morning; we might end up having to leave soon."

"Wonderful." I breathe.

"Not happy about that?"

"I don't have a lot of a combat experience, if you haven't noticed." I say; I'm not even armed right now, not even a knife; Stahl has a knife around his waist. "So if nothing else I'd like to be more prepared. Which reminds me; when can I talk with Miriel?"

"Oh, right, you were planning to learn magic. Uh…She should…oh, Ricken. Good morning, Ricken!" Stahl says as he gets distracted by…

Dear lord Ricken is short without his hat oh my god.

How old was he in the game? Don't remember, but he was a child by modern day standards. He was like the youngest guy before Donnel came along, wasn't he?

"Morning Stahl!" Bundle of energy in the morning, ain't he. "And, uh…"

"Ash."

"Yeah! Hi!" He's like…Lissa in terms of chipper-ness.

"Ricken, do you know when Miriel will be up and ready?" Stahl asks.

"For teaching? Not too sure. If you don't mind, Ash, I could teach you some basics." Ricken says, looking at me.

"That would be awesome." I say with a grin.

…

"So, here, you can see that…" Ricken says as he starts pointing out a magic circle in the fire tome he had in a belt around his waist.

…

Huh.

So quite literally magic is trigonometry based, with a side order of being able to draw perfect circles.

_You're gonna need to work a little on that circle then._

No kidding. Other than that though…being able to place everything where it needs to be within the degree is the most important thing, up to the point where the damage output itself is determined by the triangle angles within the main circle.

…

Ok, wow. This is actually really complicated.

"Ricken, do you have any books on how to construct spells?" I ask him, when he finally has to take a moment to breathe.

"Spell building is really hard." Ricken says, surprised. "Are you sure you want to try that right now?"

"Not really, but it would be nice to have some reference material."

Oh wait, I'm still illiterate.

"Aren't you illiterate?" Stahl asked worriedly.

"Yeah, forgot about that." I sigh.

"I can teach you how to read." Ricken says, without a hint of judgmental-ness in his voice.

Bless your little heart, man.

"Awesome."

…

As it turns out the script used for writing by the locals is…pretty close to English. There are some grammatical differences and some of the letters are different from how they should be, but otherwise it's pretty fast to learn.

_Aren't you glad it isn't like learning Chinese?_

I'm glad it's not rote memorization, yes.

…

"Wow, you're picking this up really fast." Ricken says with a smile.

"It's very similar to the language we use at home." I say, very relieved.

"Oh…so…you're not a traveler then?"

"I am; I just happened to travel through the Outrealm gate first." I say. Need to be a little wearier of covering my bases next time.

"You must be the new student I was supposed to receive." I hear a severe voice behind me. That must be…turn around…ayep. Miriel.

"That would be me. Good morning, Miriel." I wave.

She adjusts her glasses in response. "I see you're making a nominal amount of progress without my assistance."

I look down at the book I'm reading; something fairly popular in Ylisse, covering an event similar to Sacred Stones (Innes – L'Arachel pairing, by the looks of it) "Well, I figured teaching would be easier if I knew how to read first."

In retrospect I never got that the Innes – L'Arachel A support was the two trying to out-tsun each other, but eh.

"I see." She says. "I was here to inform you that we shall not be resting within the sanctuary of the castle for long."

Wonder why.

_Remember what missions two through four were about?_

"How come?" I ask.

"Chrom has decided that we should appeal to Ferox for military assistance." She said. "While he is away the rest of the Shepherds are to assist the local militias in the defense of the villages."

Makes sense. Except we're not really cut out for travelling.

Ricken snapped his fingers. "Oh! I totally forgot. We're supposed to go meet up real soon, too. C'mon, Ash!"

Well, I guess I can read on the way.

Good thing these books aren't obscenely heavy.

…

"Ok, everyone's here." Chrom said after we had walked into the room. I think he just took a repurposed training room since there's training dummies piled haphazardly against the wall and no seats.

"Sorry we're late." Ricken says cheerfully.

"Ok. As you all know Ylisse has been threatened by unknown enemies." Chrom says. "The council has decided to refer to them as 'Risen', and we will refer to them as such as well. Now, Ylisse's villages are in no small amount of danger as a result, and it's our duty as Shepherds to protect our civilians from this threat." He paced around a little. "But a more pressing concern has come up in the meantime."

"What could be worse?" I hear someone mutter. Sounded like Vaike, even though I rarely if ever use him.

"It has come to my attention that Plegia's military is on the move." He says, turning to face us as a murmur runs through the gathering group.

_And apparently you've been misreading Plegia's name all this time, too._

Shame.

"Ah, right." Chrom stopped for a moment when Lissa nudged him or something. "Ash, Robin. Are you two aware of the…well, history between us?"

Robin shakes her head. "No, sir."

I scratch my face. "Only the result."

"Result?" Fredrick says, narrowing his eyes.

"Ylisse and Plegia went to war, massive total war ensues, strained relationship ever since." I say, shrugging. "That sums up what I know."

Chrom nods. "I don't know the exact history either." He admits. "But that's the gist of it. If Plegia is planning to attack then we will not have the manpower to stop them and to keep the Risen from killing our civilians. Thus, I shall be leading an expedition force to Plegia to ask for an alliance. The remainder of the Shepherds shall be tasked to protect Ylisstol as you see fit." So they're not going to leave the confines of the city? Bummer.

"What? What about the people outside the city?" Sully says. It's a girl with red hair, it's probably Sully.

_What wonderful reasoning._

"For the time being they'll have to take care of themselves; Ylisstol's city guard is short on manpower." A person I don't recognize says. I guess that makes him a local noble.

"I don't like it much either, but that's the situation." Chrom says.

Fredrick steps forward. "A minute, if you will. Ash, Robin." We look at him. "I would like both of you to join Chrom's entourage."

"Uh, sure." Robin says, surprised.

I narrow my eyes. "Is this because you don't trust us?"

"Yes, it is." He says without a hint of remorse. Lissa glares at him behind his back.

I shrug. "Just checking."

Robin raised her hand. "I'm not sure why having the untrustworthy people accompany the prince is a good idea."

Fredrick smiles. Man that is creepy. "Oh, it's not that you're accompanying him, it's so that I can keep an eye on the two of you."

"So who else is going?" I ask.

"Besides us four, Vaike, Miriel, Lissa, and Sumia, as well as some Pegasus knights from the royal guard."

I'm not sure how taking out units from the garrison and putting others in constitutes good strategy, but ok.

…

…

I can see why Chrom can re-class into a cavalier. He's pretty majestic while on horseback.

_Majestic._

We're on the road while on horses. What else is there to say?

_How 'bout why nobody who knows how to ride a horse is with us?_

Sully and Stahl are rapid response units, Virion can shoot from a distance. What more reason do you need to keep them around the castle?

Chrom is riding alone because he's fucking badass and has a super powered sword.

Robin's riding with Fredrick and looking like she desperately needs to stab someone, while Fredrick is being quite upbeat and jovial.

Vaike's riding with Miriel. Well, more like "Vaike is driving for Miriel" since she's nose-deep into whatever book is in her hands while Vaike tries and fails to make small-talk.

_Something the active brain isn't telling us is that the people (Chrom being the exception) who are ground pounder units in the game are all riding with someone else, since if there's a conflict they would have to get off and fight._

Right, what the little voice said.

_So who are you riding with?_

Lissa.

Who is bouncing in her…seat? Saddle? And making me feel like I need to be arrested.

Given how happy she is I'm a little worried that she doesn't get out much.

"You're quite happy about all of this." I say after a few minutes of listening to her hum.

"I get to go somewhere without having to walk all the time. Of course I'm happy!" She says, leaning back into me.

The fact that she has zero concept of personal space is utterly terrifying. And the fact that I'm about as old as her sister makes me feel…uh.

_Should I call Chris Hansen?_

If you can pay for the phone bill.

…

On the other hand.

"Do the Shepherds do a lot of patrolling on foot?" I ask.

"I do a lot of patrolling on foot." She says. "I can't keep my balance and heal if I'm on a horse."

…

That…that's actually a pretty reasonable explanation for why she's using me as a wall right now.

"For someone who's never ridden a horse before you've picked it up really fast." She says after a couple of minutes.

_Good point; it's not like your sense of balance is any better._

Huh.

I ride a little closer to Fredrick and Robin.

"Sir Ash, should you attempt something untoward to the princess," Fredrick says with a raised eyebrow after seeing Lissa's position relative to me.

"I know; Robin." I get her attention; like Miriel she was reading, but judging by how dazed Robin looked she wasn't as used to reading while on the move as Miriel was.

"Yes?"

"You can 'see' things, right?" I ask her. Here's to hoping that gameplay and story are not segregated.

"Uh…yeah."

"Can you see what Chrom's special abilities are?"

"Special…?" She mutters, and peers at Chrom's direction. "He has something called Dual Strike Plus."

Which is…innate Lord skill, if I remember right.

"What does it mean?" She asks me.

"I have no idea; what do I have?" I ask her. She looks at me.

"Uh…" She squints. "I can't read the names, but it's…the picture of a sword and a picture of an arch."

Picture of a sword…so that would be Discipline? And the Arch is indoor fighter, I guess.

Huh. So discipline is the reason why I can suddenly ride a horse?

_I think staying on a horse and actually riding on one are two different things._

Eh. I can't fight on foot or on horseback, so it's all good.

_How optimistic of you._

"Why'd you ask?" She says.

"Just curious." I shrug.

I hear a woosh over my head and look up; Four Pegasus Knights (plus Sumia) swoop over our head; the lead one, a lady I don't recognize, land near Chrom and rides up next to him once her bird-horse folds its wings. They talk for a while, and then Chrom raises an arm to get us to halt.

Chrom then gets Fredrick and Lissa's attention.

Why Lissa? She nudges me and points to Chrom.

"There is a group of Risen in front of us." He says after we've gotten close enough to hear him. "Should we avoid them?"

"I think we should; fighting them would delay our plans." Fredrick says, scowling. "However, leaving them alone could very well endanger any other travelers that take this road."

Which, given what we've seen on our ride so far, is a grand total of zero. I guess the fear of the Risen is choking travel.

"I'm with Fredrick here." I helpfully chip in. "Besides, I don't think I can stay on the horse if we take a path that isn't flat."

Chrom chuckles and nods.

"Shepherds! We ride into battle!" He yells, and goes ahead at a speed faster than a trot.

…

Wait, I'm supposed to keep up? Oh hell.

…

…

"I take back what I said earlier." Lissa says shakily as she hops off the horse.

Given that she was trying to break my arms while I tried to keep up with Chrom I can't exactly blame her.

"I'm never riding a horse again." She says while getting her staff out.

We're far enough to see the Risen, and they're just milling around aimlessly around the bridge, which means we're at the map area of mission one.

"Alright. Robin, your orders?" Chrom says, dismounting and pulling the Falchion from its sheath.

He had a sheath for the Falchion? Never knew that.

"Uhm…" Robin stares at the Risen. "I'm not quite sure if they noticed us yet; Fredrick, Ash, ride forward and attack."

…Wait what

"You know I'm not a rider type, right?" I ask her hesitantly.

She shrugs in response. "You're not an anything type. Hurry up, the Risen aren't gonna kill themselves."

…To be fair she's exactly right. Hell, at this point I'm less useful than Donny, and he at least has uber growths.

Ok.

Fredrick and his armored horse rides up near me. Fredrick has a lance in his hand.

"The orders from the tactician are final. Stay near me, and you'll be safe."

Deep breath, and hope that this is in fact Fire Emblem, and in Fire Emblem the tactician is OCD about people not dying.

_And you've never had to reset when someone died ever._

…

Well, shit.

No point worrying about that now I suppose.

Bringing out the lance. Wish I had an actual lance instead of this spear thing, but ok.

Alright.

…

Ok.

_Psyching yourself up there?_

"Ok…go!" I hear Robin command. Was she giving out orders the whole time?

_Focus!_

CHAAAAARGE!

I WISH I HAD MORE TIME TO RETHINK MY LIFE CHOICES!

_Wow horses galloping are fast. You holding those reins there? Yes, yes you are, and with enough dedication to turn your hand white, too, impressive._

_We're coming up near the Risen now, you ready?_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_I take that as a yes. Don't ride directly into the Risen now._

PULL BACK ARM. _Risen's right there._

PUSH ARM FORWARD.

Risen impaled in spear.

Actually, spear has been forgotten inside Risen.

Risen also seems to be relatively disdainful of gravity.

Gravity's reputation as a harsh mistress is well deserved.

_What the active mind isn't saying is that he charged into the Risen with the spear and lost his grip during the charge impact. The resulting momentum sent the Risen into the air (not very high but very far, mind you) and it came crashing down with a mighty roll into a nearby tree._

And the spear broke into little pieces inside it. I don't think I'm getting it back.

_Oh, you're back._

Freak out has finished since I'm not charging anymore. I'm also short a spear and there are way more Risen here than I gave credit for. And they're all pissed, wonderful.

Fredrick swings his spear in a decidedly not-stabby way and blows a few Risen away; judging by the fact that they're getting back up it wasn't fatal.

"Ash, we're done, back." He commands. I nod and turn the horse around, and we leave in a hurry.

Because the angry vapor zombies are trying to kill all of us, c'mon horse. Run like you mean it.

…

"Wow, that was nice." Robin said, complete with wide-eyed surprise. "Do you have another weapon, Ash?"

I pull out a sword. "Yeah, I'm good."

She nods, at looks at the Risen running at full speed toward us. "Circle around the outside of the Risen and pick off any of straggler ones." She then takes a deep breath. "Attack!"

Miriel pulls out a wind tome and blasts the first line of Risen, immediately blunting whatever charging power they had.

The Pegasus knights (minus Sumia who is now on the ground) then dive into the Risen from their position in the sky.

That is like the most effective counter charge: Pegasi have more momentum than horses (since they can dive thanks to gravity) and now the Risen are either blown clean away into each other or knocked down due to the force of the wind the Pegasus wings gave once they took off again.

And thus we're capitalizing.

Fredrick's riding among the Risen and stabbing anything that's moving, Vaike is…Vaike is twirling around with his axe outstretched being the most hazardous unit ever but he's also mowing down everything.

Miriel and Robin are burning things alive (fire, electricity, same outcome)

_So they're making undead redead?_

And Chrom is…dismounting with his Falchion, kicking ass and taking names. Also his jumping power is a little absurd. It's not the game's insane…super jump, but it's pretty damn close. He's jumping high enough to go straight over Risen.

Sumia's doubling as land infantry and stabbing anything that's about to get up. She's fast and stabby, but a little lead-footed.

And Lissa has her heal staff, staring intently at the crowd. Every so often she would move closer to a person and pump a heal into their back, before withdrawing again to a safer distance.

_So what are you doing?_

Commentating while trying to get my horse to dive into the fray, which he, like any sane animal, refuses to do.

Fine then. Be that way. Dismount and mop up on foot.

…

Risen Soldier. Hello. Nice to see you on the ground.

Say that's a nice unprotected throat you got there it would be a shame if I were to STAB it.

…

Wait.

It's working?

_You didn't think it would?_

I was too caught up in adrenaline. The Risen we fought before took ludicrous amounts of damage before they died. What makes these guys different?

Hmm…

Well, ponder later, mop up now.

Every now and then some Risen would get up and try to charge at the nearest target, except Miriel is on the job and just shuts down any charge that happens with her wind tome.

Or she just cuts to the chase and blows the poor, poor zombie's head off with a blast of fire.

Outside of the game-imposed restriction of her being level one on join, she's quite literally the most skilled mage here. Robin usually needs two or three shots to take down a target, while Miriel can usually make do with one shot, occasionally one shot for two kills.

In terms of their targeting prowess Robin chars the shit out of everything she hits and Miriel only incinerates very select body parts.

I'm not sure if that was supposed to be reassuring.

…

How many Risen are left…

One…two…five.

And they're running.

_You win._

Do we?

Robin seems to share my thoughts, judging by her scowl. "I've never seen them retreat before." She mutters.

I don't think we have enough data points to make that assumption.

"Ash. Did you ever see them do that?" She asks me.

"The few times we went up against Risen the attacks only stopped when they all died." I said, finding the horse I abandoned and leading it back to the…group of people. We're not exactly a camp here.

She taps her chin. "Interesting. These Risen also seemed more fragile than the ones I met back then." Back then…chapter…two?

That would make this place chapter three then.

_Really?_

Prologue is kill Chrom, One is Robin, Two is Everyone, three is this road. Yeah, three.

Did I mess it up before? I could've sworn I did…

_Or maybe you messed it up now._

"You ok over there?" Lissa asks, waving a hand in front of my eyes.

"Yeah, just a little…" I trail off, since I'm not sure what "I'm just a little" about.

"Maybe these guys came from a different source?" I hear Fredrick say as Robin brings up this issue with him and Chrom.

Different source…

…

Oh.

The…fanservice dark flier lady. What's-her-face. Could summon Risen.

So…These Risen could've been summoned by her?

_Maybe not her specifically, but from the Grimleal? Remember that in chapter 4 Ferox's guards said they were getting raided by Plegian soldiers._

In that case it would be…really bad. If the Plegians could summon Risen, even weak ones, it means they have…well, way more power than I hav—

"HEY!" Lissa. Hi Lissa. Why are you scowling at me.

"Um?"

"Don't ignore me!" She pouts.

"Sorry."

"Like I was saying; where did you learn to ride like that?" She asks.

Ride like what?

"Ride like…" I fish for some clues.

"Y'know." She makes some weird gesture with her hand. "Sending them flying like that."

…

"I'm pretty sure the Pegasus knights did a better charge than I did." I said, tilting my head towards the girls in question.

"I'm also interested, Ash." Fredrick says, coming up to me; whatever discussion the leadership group had had apparently finished. "For a man of your size to send Risen flying, I am truly impressed."

...

_Would…would that be considered "damned by faint praise?"_

I guess?

"I'm not sure what the…praise-worthy action was." I say after a few seconds.

…

…

"You just looked so majestic charging like that!" Lissa gushes.

It's been five minutes and SHE HASN'T DROPPED THE ISSUE

_Aren't you glad someone admires you?_

…

…

…

Camp time.

The girls occupy four tents (two for the Shepherd girls, two for the NPCs)

The men occupy two tents (one for Chrom, one for the rest of us)

…

I opt to sleep outside because holy shit Vaike is a loud snorer.

…

"Hey." I hear someone sit next to me. Turn and look…hi Robin.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" I ask her, from my comfy spot on the grass.

_You're also lying down._

Yeah I think that's kind of a given, considering its sleepy time.

She sighs. "Too excited to." She didn't spend as much energy as the rest of them during the fight, I suppose.

_You're in the same boat._

"Why are you out here?" She asks.

"Vaike."

We both turn to look to the tent, and she sighs again.

"I wanted to talk to you, but there wasn't time today." She says; we were riding fairly hard after the fight to make up for the lost time during the battle. "Well, I'm here now."

I chuckle. "Yeah; so what do you want to talk about?"

"What did you think about today's Risen? As an Outrealmer, I mean." As opposed to…hell the fact that I'm from the Outrealm Gate isn't exactly privy knowledge.

"Comparatively weaker than I expected; did you see anything unusual with them?" I reply.

"Um…" She squeezes her eyes shut and tries to remember. "A five?" A fiv

"A five."

"I was a little busy to watch for their oddities, ok?" She sulks. "Do you have any leads though?"

I don't think she was reading a stat, so I have no idea. There's no skill in the game represented by a five.

"No clue." I shrug.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Shame." She sighs again, and then lies down.

…uhm?

"Shouldn't you be going back to your tent?"

"Why? It's not like you're going to do anything."

_Wow._

She...I guess she's looking at the sky. "Just between us: I find them a little uncomfortable to be around."

Huh. "How come?"

"I don't know. It's…a weird feeling I get."

…

Ding. "Is it strongest around Chrom?"

Judging by the suddenly rustling I was on the mark. "Yes." She says after a few moments.

_Well it's obvious, she's head over_

No.

_Oh fine._

It could be a Grima vs Naga thing; Robin's supposed to be the ultimate vessel for Grima, and Chrom's the ultimate vessel for Naga. It's not a problem in the game though…

"Maybe it's love."

_Oh fuck you, stealing my idea._

Hehehe. It's the idea from the same person.

"Ha. Ha." She says with a vocally expressed emotional value of zero. "It would be better if it was love." She adds after a moment. "I just don't understand it, and it scares me."

…

Lady, you don't have total amnesia, shouldn't you at least be aware of why you're getting that feeling?

_Obviously if she knew she wouldn't be confused by it._

"So I'm sleeping out here for the night too."

_LAWL_

That is not a word, inner self.

_There's no word that can express the absurdity of the situation._

"Well, suit yourself." I say, and close my eyes.

…

…

…

Someone's giggling above my head. It's probably Lissa.

_Here's a mental image of Miriel being a giggly type girl._

Great, thanks.

Open the eyes…Yellow hair, weird hair decorations, yep. Lissa.

It's...ok, not that bright. So she's just an early riser.

"Ooh, how bold." The grin on her face just radiates mischievous glee.

On another note, I feel a bit heavier than I did the night before, and I don't think it's just the pre-awake grogginess.

…Yep. yep.

"It gets pretty cold up in Ferox doesn't it?" I ask her, trying to sound casual.

She giggles. "Oh, very."

Robin had snuggled up to me during the night.

I didn't think we were that close already…then again being cold is different from outright snowing.

I'm going to catch so much flak for this. But first, I need to get up.

…

Lissa, I would like it if you stopped giggling like a maniac now.

…

Also I really should've just brought out my sleeping stuff instead of trying to man mode it through the night. My head feels like it's been attached incorrectly. Ugh.

…

And now Lissa's off to bother Robin. Great.

"Hey, hey." I hear her say, while gentling pushing Robin.

Robin mumbled something and Lissa giggles harder.

I hear a rustling behind me, and a head of silvery pink (pink? It looks pink) hair comes out.

"Good morning, Ash." Sumia says, with a slight bow despite her grogginess. "And Lissa. What…"

"Good morning, Sumia. Lissa is having fun." I say lightly, my brain finally kicking in.

"The two of them were sleeping out here in the morning and cuddling!" Lissa says. At this point her giggle is almost omnipresent.

"Oh." Sumia looks at Robin, and then looks at me. "That's nice." She then says in a disinterested voice.

"Oh come on, Sumia! Don't you think that they…" Lissa then flushes because she's reaching into adult territory.

Sumia then stares at me for a moment. "No, I don't think he could."

…

_Man, you are just getting no breaks._

…

Soon enough Robin woke up, and her response was a calm and cold "I don't remember anything." Which took the sails out of Lissa's ship and she sulked for the rest of the morning, up to and including when we set out again.

She stopped sulking once the weather got a lot colder all of a sudden, favoring instead to snuggle against some blankets we brought out. Everything she says has, almost as if by magic, transformed from teasing to complaints against the cold.

…

…

Well, ok, it's not really magic since the past few days have been mind-numbingly dull travel. I mean, the lack of vapor zombies trying to kill us is nice, but having some kind of interaction on the road would be good too.

_Lissa?_

She is…uh.

_You've tuned her out for the past few days haven't you._

A little, yeah.

…

In my defense she spent the first day trying to get a reaction out of Robin and me, and when we didn't comply she sulked the rest of the second day. And I was preoccupied with getting Miriel to teach me as much as possible while on the move.

_How'd that work out?_

Not well at all. I was shunned just like Vaike.

…

On day…what is it, five? Fredrick came to check up on me after I had ridden ahead and stop the instant I cleared this hill on the road.

"Ash, is everything alright?"

Well, if you discount the sudden flurry we find ourselves in. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little blinded."

He chuckles. "Feroxi weather can sneak up on the best of us; did you see how far our destination was?"

Eeh… "Can't be too far ahead." Judging by the increased amount of rubble around us.

Also, the Feroxi guardsmen should clean up after themselves more; the gate is like littered with abandoned clothing, shields, scraps of armor…

Corpses…

Corpses this far out from the gate?

"Fredrick, what do you think about that?" I point to the corpses lying on the side of the road.

He dismounts and checks them closely. "Looks like Ferox has been getting some unwanted visitors; these men are dressed like Ylissean militia."

Come to think of it I don't think I've ever seen anything akin to an Ylissean regular yet. It's always either the local town guard or the (I assume) aristocratic knights.

"Would Ylisse send any soldiers this way?" I ask him, a little unnecessarily.

"Considering that the two countries have fair relations, no. Even if the relations were worse, we wouldn't be sending militia. Come, we should report this to Chrom." He says, re-mounting and going back down at a trot.

…

"So…this means someone has been posing as Ylissean soldiers and harassing Ferox?" Robin says, the quickest to catch up in the makeshift tent.

"I fear so, milady." Fredrick says. Robin scratches her head.

"Great. So what do we do now, Chrom? If we reach the gate we're sure to be attacked." She says.

"I wouldn't worry about that." Fredrick says with a smile. "Feroxi soldiers value valor above all else; if we can prove that we are honorable in battle then we should get our entrance."

At the cost of several good Feroxi men, unfortunately.

Robin sighs. "Just great. Ash, what do you think?"

That single question perks Lissa up to no end. The girl up to this point has been huddled next to Chrom trying to sap his body heat. She's now looking at me with the biggest victory grin on her face.

I sigh as well. "Fredrick, how much less do they value an alpha strike?" Damn. Used slang.

Fredrick looks at me blankly. "I beg your pardon?"

"Sorry. Local term; if we were to hit them with everything we've got on one go, would that pass as Feroxi Valor?"

Fredrick mulls it over for a moment. "I'm not quite sure what you mean still, however, as long as we fight them head on it should prove to be sufficient."

Hmm…head on. That's a pretty broad requirement.

_It also should be applied directly to the forehead._

Robin also mulls it over, her epic strategy brain going into overdrive. It takes her about a minute before she snaps her fingers and then looks at me again. Lissa lost interest since we're being professional about everything.

_Thank god._

"I have a plan in mind; Ash, do you know what we're going to be up against?"

"He's psychic?" Chrom said, surprised.

"I'm originally from the Outrealm gate." I say. "I thought I mentioned that."

"To Ricken." Miriel says absentmindedly.

Chrom shrugs. "It's no big deal. So?"

My turn to scratch my head. "We're probably going to be up against a checkpoint. High wall, immovable gate, side entrances. Plan A would be to assault the side gates as quickly as possible…"

"But that would expose us to fire from the enemy garrison." Robin finished.

I nod. "Right. Plan B is to have our heaviest hitters get an airlift over the wall while our mages lay down covering fire on the enemy ranged units."

Silence.

"I assume covering fire means we-" Robin indicates herself and Miriel. "fire at the enemy archers, from the bottom the wall, and not knowing where they are."

"Well, kind of." I say as Robin rolls her eyes. "As long as you stop the enemy ranged units from hitting our fliers then the concept of covering fire would work just fine."

"What's your goal for this fight?" Robin asks, her eyes narrowing with what I believe is suspicion.

"To get the Feroxi soldiers to stop without killing a single one of them." I say.

Silence.

"Seriously?" Lissa sounds…doubtful, to put it politely.

"Yeah; all things considered killing a Feroxi garrison isn't good for anyone."

Robin nods. "I see. Then I assume you would agree to diplomacy first?"

I shrug. "As long as it works." I look at Chrom. "Your highness."

"Chrom is fine, Ash." Chrom says almost automatically.

"If we were to go with Plan B it would almost depend on your ability to subdue the enemy captain as fast as possible, which means you're going to be in the center of the battle." I say.

He nods. "You're trying to end the battle without killing anyone; for that, I'm willing to lead the charge."

Robin also nods. "I assume you would need me as a front line attacker if things go poorly?"

…

Right, I can't actually fight.

I know Robin's kickass but my inner unreasonable chivalry is acting up.

"Yeah; if we're going with Plan B I would need you to keep the enemy off of Chrom while he beats the captain down."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Robin says. "I'll work out the small details; let's hope we won't need this."

"I'm FREEZING!" Lissa finally says, having taken enough of the talk.

Miriel, who was warming herself out of Lissa's line of sight with a small fire, smirked.

…

…

"Halt! State your business!" A woman shouts. Probably the stage boss.

_Welcome to chapter four!_

Uuuuugh why did we do this nearly at night. It's nice that we don't have to spend night five outside, but come the fuck on.

It's nearly dark and it's snowing. This sucks.

"Chrom, the Prince of Ylisse, would like an audience with the Feroxi Khan!" Fredrick shouts.

"Ha! We're not falling for that ruse again!" A different voice, gruff and…well, not-woman, shouts.

Again, huh. "I guess you're not the first Chrom to pass through here." I wish I remembered what the boss name was. Would make things a lot more interesting. I then pick up my voice to shout. "Would you look over the wall and tell me if bandits would bring a little girl with them to battle?"

"I'm not a little girl." Lissa grumbles, as Robin makes a very-quickly-stifled laugh.

You're the littlest girl here, Lissa.

_I noticed you weren't about to say that out loud._

Because I don't have a death wish; I also see someone poke their head over the wall for a moment the duck back down.

"Say what you will; if you desire to meet with the Khan then prove it on the battlefield!"

Shit.

"Chrom, back up." I say.

He does fast enough to move quite a few steps, and the javelins the wall defenders threw land harmlessly where he would have been.

Sumia isn't here still. I kind of need her to be here. Damn.

Fine, Plan B and a half.

"Miriel, ready flares, Robin, do your thing." Miriel brings out a fire tome and chants something under her breath.

"Chrom, Vaike, Fredrick, you guys ready?" Robin asks, getting three nods in reply. She then looks at me.

Deep breath. "Fire!"

Miriel launches a spate of fire…spell balls into the air and they explode after they've cleared the gate, with way more brightness than they usually do. I hear the lady trying to rally her men after they undoubtedly stared at the makeshift flash bangs.

The four Pegasus knights we had swoop down, land, and immediately take off again as the four attackers mount up.

Miriel then takes out her wind tome and fires a large blanket of wind in the rider's general direction.

I don't think there were any archers inside the garrison in the game. Not the same as reality though.

Speaking of reality, the not attacking people are in danger of being mobbed by a small group that had sallied from a side gate.

"Ash." Miriel says as a warning.

"I know; keep the fliers covered." I flex my fingers. "Here goes nothing." And here's to hoping the few training sessions with Fredrick the past five days have paid off.

_I'm amazed you talked him out of fanatical fitness hour._

I don't think he remembered. Not about to remind him though.

Am I…not exactly upwind; but the snow isn't getting into my face. Ok. Stay focused.

First guy, sword user. Overhead swing.

Shoulder charge him. Hit. Ow. Armor does indeed hurt in full physical contact.

Grab his arm, twist. Spin counterclockwise, maintain grip on wrist. Twist a little more.

Disarmed. Roundhouse kick to his shins, lay him down. FUCK armor hurts. Ow.

Back up, back up. Second guy, third guy…axe, spear user. Axe guy's coming in with a side sweep. Back off, back off…

Forunately they're not targeting Lissa or Miriel at all. Good thing these guys are proud warrior types.

Axe guy coming again. Overhead swing. Duck to the side, punch punch punch to the face. He's dazed. Full body tackle to his chest!

Target down, and I think I need a massage after this. Ow.

Third threat, spear, stabby mc face stabber. Isn't letting me get anywhere near him. Smart man.

But then I don't need to defeat you at all. I just need to buy time.

"Lost your nerve, little man?" He snarls. I just stare at him.

"My job is to protect the girls; if you're not going to do anything I'm not going to do anything."

He isn't about to stab a defenseless little girl, or a Miriel doing god knows what.

_Lissa isn't really defenseless though._

In a war she would be a valuable asset as a healer. With her heal stick hidden she's a pretty pretty scared little princess.

_Pretty sure this doesn't count as valor._

The end justifies the means in this case.

…

After a few minutes of us staring each other down, I hear a roar from inside the garrison, followed by a shouted command from the captain of the garrison, telling her soldiers to stand down.

The man instantly brings his spear point away from me. They're well trained.

"Lissa." I look at her. She looks at me, then her brain clicks and she brings out her staff to look at the two guys on the ground.

"Pretty light injuries, they'll be fine." She says after she patches them up.

"So she was a healer. No wonder you wanted her protected." The man said.

"Yeah, well. With everything that's happening right now it would be wrong for Ferox to lose soldiers to a misunderstanding."

"For us to lose men, eh? You cheeky little bastard." He shakes his head.

…

…

"How did it go?" I ask Chrom after everyone is indoors.

"As well as it could be expected." Robin said while Lissa patches her up. "Fighting without killing anyone is unusually difficult."

"Once we had reached lady Raimi" so that's her name "the rest of the soldiers were all too happy to stand around and watch, especially since none of us were keen on continuing the attack."

_And?_

And?

_AND?!_

OH! Right. I'm a fucking heartless bastard. "What about the Pegasus Knights?"

The four ladies…wow, they've, like, been ignored all this time. I feel like a horrible person now.

_You still don't know their names._

Par for the course.

"They dismounted and assisted the ground assault while their Pegasus flew to a safe distance." Fredrick replied.

"You girls didn't have to do that." I say, with a slight bow. "But thanks all the same; is anyone hurt then?"

"We have Vulneraries, sir, we'll be fine." The leader said. Sir?

Lissa probably saw the confused look on my face. "You're a Shepherd, remember?"

Well, yeah. Not like I feel good about it, but eh. Whatever.

"Either way; Lissa, if you could…"

"Way ahead of you." She says happily, bouncing over to the four knights.

…

After about an hour or so (along with Lissa almost getting one girl to strip so she can attend to said girl's injuries. Keyword being almost) Chrom was finally given audience with…

Who? Flavia. Basilio was in Lucina's corner.

Chrom was finally given audience with Flavia, and…he's only allowed two other members of his entourage.

"Take Fredrick and Robin." I say, after he looked at me almost expectantly.

"Are you sure?" Robin asked.

"I have awesome outrealm psychic powers. I'm sure." I say with a grin.

_A goofy grin._

My grins are always goofy.

Chrom shakes his head. "I'll take your word for it, then; stay out of trouble." He says as he sees Vaike napping confortably on a long bench or something in…here.

A very sparsely furnished hallway with chairs thrown in.

"You're really confident all of a sudden." Lissa said, sitting down next to me and taking a deep breath. Healing takes a lot out of you, I see.

"Just about what they're going to talk about."

"What are they going to talk about?" Lissa asked, getting…

Uncomfortably cozy around me. I hope it's because I look meek and for no other reason.

"Chrom's going to participate in an arena match and we're going to the reinforcements we want if we win." I say.

…

Yeah, wow. I think Lissa's just tired; she looks really damned pale.

"Are you ok?" I ask her.

"Yeah, just…fine." She trails off as she…yeah she's like dead tired. I motion for the attention of the Pegasus knights; their leader comes over, and I interrupt her mid-curtsy.

Really, don't do that. "Can you get her something warm?" I ask quietly. The knight looks at Lissa and nods; they brought some of their equipment, including the extra blankets.

So now Lissa is using me as a pillow and looking about comfortable as she could possibly be under the circumstances.

She's adorable.

...

Also I can't move my legs, which is bothering me.

_Quick! Think of a distraction!_

Where's Sumia? She…

She was supposed to get her Pegasus between the battle on the road and now, and she's…well, if she doesn't get a big damn heroes moment she should at least be here by now.

"Do you happen to know where Sumia went?" I ask the leader Pegasus knight.

She shakes her head. "No, sir; last I saw of her she was with the prince."

Hrm. Hopefully she's not dead or captured somewhere.

_Best guess._

She's a rescue target instead of Mirabelle or something.

…

…

"We're back and what are you doing?" I hear a voice say.

_You fell asleep and could've been dreaming._

It's late, and I've had horrible rest on the road. It's to be expected.

At least the voice had the decency to keep himself quiet.

"Being really tired." I mumble.

"I can see that. I what I want to know is why is my sister on your lap." So that's Chrom. Also unintentional innuendo.

"Because she's out like a light and I can't feel my legs. Help." I don't even bother opening my eyes; this spot on the pillar is just too comfortable.

"Well, you'll get a real bed in a few minutes; same for you, Lisse. You'll catch a cold sleeping here."

Lissa mumbles something unintelligible and rolls onto the ground with an "ouch."

"So what's the news?" I stretch.

"We're going to help Khan Flavia get her status as the ruling Khan in two days' time in the arena." Fredrick says, helping Lissa up.

"Ohey, it's exactly like you said." Lissa mumbles, as Fredrick leads her to her prepared room.

"Yeah, yeah. Where am I sleeping?"

…

…

And so now that I'm actually in a bed…

I'm WIDE AWAKE.

WHY


	5. From - The Longfort

"Good morning!"

So apparently I passed out cold in the middle of raging about insomnia.

"Hello~ anybody there?"

On one hand I want to be entirely justified to rage but on the other hand I'm really, really happy about a good night's sleep for once.

_No one bothering you, no Risen in the middle of the night._

No Risen? I guess I was just too out of it to care, huh…

"Hey! I said, good morning!"

_So who's that raging at you?_

No idea. I don't want to open my eyes to check.

Ow.

_That was most definitely a pillow._

It hurt in a painless kind of way.

"Good morning to you too, Lissa." I say, sitting up.

"About time." She pouts. "Wow, you actually slept in your armor?"

Look down.

Yep, I did.

"Looks like it." I stretch. At least I had the decency to unarm first.

_You didn't; your weapons were confiscated at the entrance to the bedding quarters._

Same difference.

"You ok over there?" She says, waving a hand over my face.

"I'm a slow starter. What time is it?"

"Breakfast. Chrom wanted you for something too, by the way."

Yay, breakfast.

…

And discussions about the world, I guess.

But mainly breakfast.

…

…

After breakfast, Chrom and Fredrick (and Robin and Lissa) came to meet me at my table.

Nope, not conspicuous at all.

"Ash, I'm interested about what Lissa said before we rested for the night." Fredrick started.

"Huh? What did I say?" Lissa said with a small gasp.

"Something about it being 'exactly as you said', Ash." Chrom said. "Don't misunderstand, I trust you completely…"

"But…?" I ask.

"But I have suspicions about how much you know, Ash." Fredrick says with a terrifying smile.

I sigh. "For the record, the more I talk, the less useful the information will be."

"So you know a lot about us?" Lissa said, sounding a little offended.

Well now I feel like a prick.

So how do I phrase this…?

"It's not like that; it just seemed odd to me that a warrior nation like Ferox will do something normal like…elections, for example." I stop for a second. "Amendment: a reasonable warrior nation like Ferox."

"Elections?" Lissa repeats, with a mild tone of confusion. I don't think representative democracies are a thing yet.

"And so you predicted that Chrom would be participating in the Arena match tomorrow simply based on that?" Fredrick said, his hand resting on his sword.

"In my defense I had no intention of being right; I didn't think Ferox would do something like a fight to the death, so an Arena match would be the next thing." I say.

Lissa giggled. "You're too serious, Fredrick."

Fredrick scowls. "It's my duty to protect my charges, however difficult that may be." He then turns to me. "So how much do you know about the opponents we will face in the arena?"

…

Huh.

"Nothing at all." I shrug.

No point letting that cat out of the bag, now is there?

Fredrick scowls deeper, but sighs and takes his hand off his sword hilt.

Chrom then turns because Vaike had tapped him on the shoulder and was now demanding for a spar.

Well then, *I* need to learn.

…

And Miriel is nowhere to be seen. Wonderful.

_Bite the bullet._

"Lissa." I say. Fredrick's narrows his eyes, but Chrom isn't there because Vaike had dragged him off.

I'm not gonna make a move on the underaged princess. Chill.

"Yep?" She turns and looks at me and beams.

"Uh…I'm still trying to learn magic. Teach me?"

"You know I heal, right?" She says, with a small "are you kidding?" type smile on her face.

"Yeah. I figured magic would have some pretty similar basics; if they don't that's fine, I just need to get a lot more useful faster."

"If I may." Fredrick interjects. "I, as a Steward, know a few things about basic usage of magic. I could teach you instead of the princess, so long as actual casting is not required."

Sounds good to me. "That will be very greatly appreciated, Fredrick."

"Uh." Lissa looks at me. "Why did you ask me, out of curiosity?"

…

_Minefield detected._

…

"Because Miriel isn't here yet." I feel like I'm defying some kind of expectation here but priorities must be made.

She nods and walks away without another word.

"Perhaps you could also do with a lesson in the proper treatment of a lady." Fredrick idly says while flipping through his…where was he keeping that? notebook.

…

…

Turns out Fredrick is an insanely good teacher, as far as basic theory is concerned.

But I have to admit that his description of magic isn't exactly what I expected.

Magic is…less like air that you breathe in and make use of, but more like…chlorinated pool water? You swim in it and you (by and large) use it but you don't want to drink it.

Well, any more than accidentally, anyways.

The lack of a scientific method in the world of Fire Emblem means the definition's really fucking vague. And, as Fredrick implied, every mage has their own method of accessing magic.

Point being, use magic through the casting circles; while everyone can cast magic, not every has the ability (also vaguely defined) to make said casting circle work.

"Miriel has, at some point, talked about it as a difference in understanding." Fredrick had said about an hour ago. "If you understand the magic, it will work."

I'm hoping that "understanding" doesn't mean what I think it means.

Well, either way. I have a wind tome now and I get to practice getting it to work.

I also have a…quill with some spirit dust-infused ink in case I want to write anything magical to this book.

Lissa gave them to me.

_She's a very nice girl._

Yes, yes she is.

…

Ok, here goes nothing.

The basic wind spell is…

Wind energy, whatever the fuck that is, concentrated on a single point and allowed to roam free.

…

Nope, no dice.

Hmm…

"Perhaps…" Fredrick starts to say.

Tuning him out. Sorry Fredrick.

…

I need to fire the wind spell as a ball.

There's some leeway in the definition of a "center" that the spell can use. So I can theoretically use a bullet as the center instead of just an ill-defined point.

…

Ok, target's over there…

Activate the circle.

…Yeah, that feels like wind, alright.

Firing missile, "push" it out of the hand.

…

"Wonderful! You have potential indeed, Ash." Fredrick says, smiling. I don't know if he knows that I tuned him out entirely so I'm afraid to say anything.

The target dummy is also wobbling.

"Your effort is most satisfactory." Miriel said from her seat near the edge of the barracks while Lissa claps happily. When did Miriel get here? "Even though the spell is too weak to be useful in direct combat, for you to have made such tremendous progress in such a short amount of time is exemplary."

True. The spell's current output is more like a parlor trick than a combat option.

So…how much can I afford to alter the spell?

"He's off in his own world again." I heard Lissa mutter, accompanied by what is most likely an exaggerated eye roll.

The basic spell is a ball of irregular wind energy focused around an ill-defined center.

Mine is a ball of irregular wind energy focused around an ill-defined but shaped, mentally concrete center.

_So what if the energy is not irregular instead?_

Let's check.

…

_What the active mind isn't registering is that he's now standing in the middle of the range training ground flipping through the wind tome in his hand while everyone around him either looks at him in open amusement or ignoring him with a small knowing smile on their faces._

…

Ok, I have some ideas. Let's try some more shots.

Concentrate, and…

Shots, two, three, four, away.

"As good as before, Ash." Miriel remarked.

…

Definitely felt force there. So this oddly defined wind energy is just…physical force. The concentration is a little odd, but it's just physical force. So if I were to regulate the energy instead it would do a lot better?

_Remember the animation for Elwind?_

It was all swirly and shaped like a tornado. Or was that Arcwind? Point is the higher spells were all swirly and organized and green and shit.

Pretty sure I can't do that, and the amount of energy required to spin that force over a false core would outweigh whatever benefits it would get.

_Also be pretty expensive for the tome construction, and if you wanted to do that..._

Then I would be better off buying an Elwind or Arcwind tome instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.

...

Well…so what if I place that energy behind a solid core?

A non-explosive driven bullet. There should be some pebbles around here…this should do, a piece of wood chip.

Except the wood chip is far from aerodynamic and just shoving energy behind it isn't going to do anything useful.

Fuck.

_Meanwhile Lissa has whispered "what is he doing?" to Miriel, who doesn't want to respond. Or couldn't, since I'm being stupid while standing in the MIDDLE OF THE ROOM_

Let's try a small stone instead. Let's try actually looking for a small stone instead…ah ha. Good enough.

So…

If I actually want to do this almost all of the energy needs to be concentrated behind the stone. Pretty sure the circle can't actually do that. What's the next best alternative without making a dedicated circle?

Making the radius on the ball of winds as small as physically (or magically, I guess) possible and making the center of said ball behind the actual stone.

Ok, let's give it a shot…shit, it's not going to do anything.

Open up book, grab quill. Uh…where's my cheat sheet?

…

_At this point I think Lissa's doing all of the "being embarrassed" for you, given the amount of facepalming she's doing. By the way a lot of mages are snickering at you._

_Hey. Active mind. You listening? HEY_

_LISTEN_

…

Ok, added in a little tibit. Spell effect is now delayed about a fraction of a second. Thank you Ricken for loaning me that spell component book, even if it seemed to have pages ripped out of it for some reason.

Let's try this out.

…

Well, I just have to fling the rock first.

Concentrate, spell radius should be as tight as possible, and…fire!

…

...

…

Whoo…wow, that was, uh, really loud.

Let's…check the target for damage…yeah...uh…

The pebble embedded itself into the wood post, but other than some chippings it didn't do a whole lot of damage.

Was still really damn loud though.

…

"How…how did you do that?" I hear Lissa say. When did she sneak up to me?

Also the room is now deathly quiet.

"Do…what?" I say, not really paying attention.

"That." She put her hand up to the embedded stone and rubbed it with a finger. "It's warm, too. What the heck?"

…

With a basic wind spell it accelerated that much?

_With a basic wind spell with zero optimization it accelerated that much?_

Holy shit, Fire Emblem's been holding out on me.

Imagine what I can do with this if the force is 100 percent concentrated behind the bullet instead of swirling around it.

"Scuse me, need a table and lots of paper." I say to Lissa, while gathering up the quill and ink on the ground.

_She's following you, by the way._

…

Ok, found a table. Set everything down, grab fresh piece of paper, copy the default circle.

I have to say I'm getting a lot better at drawing circles that are actually circular.

_And yet you still cheated with a mug._

The end justifies the means.

…

Uh…

Whose…hands…are those?

_Lissa's._

Uh…

I'm…just going to…not turn around…and concentrate on the task at hand. Yeah…

…

…

_So how's the whole "ignoring the hands on your shoulders" thing doing?_

Poorly.

But the general spell is finished.

"Wow, you can make spells already?" I hear Lissa say.

THE GIRL IS BREATHING DOWN MY NECK

_**A** GIRL IS BREATHING DOWN YOUR NECK_

"It's a proof of concept." I say. Reclusive people such as myself aren't good with personal space invasions. Even less so if it's by a cute girl ten years younger.

"What does that mean?" She says, backing up a tiny bit because my body language is clearly screaming in…mild discomfort.

"It means I don't have anything solid for a spell, but it shows what I want the spell to do, hopefully."

"I heard a loud noise; what happened?" Chrom said, walking in, and stopping for a brief moment because it looks like her sister is giving a shoulder massage to a potential insurgent in the army.

_You and your assumptions._

"Hey, brother! He's making spells!" Lissa says, bouncing over to Chrom.

"Really? I figured you for the scholarly type." Chrom said, walking over to peer at the paper.

I shrug. "Depends on if it works or not." I place one of the two pages I made into the tome, and leave the other one out to dry underneath a…

This is glass, right?

Underneath a glass pane.

"He calls it a proof of concept." Lissa continues.

"Interesting. And what concept, sir Ash, do you hope to prove?" Miriel said, stopping by the door.

"Something something." I say in response. Because I'm not sure what I'm trying to prove.

…

Back to the training field! This is taking a while!

"Ash, is this in preparation for the arena match?" Chrom asked, taking a seat on the edge of the practice range.

"No, not really. Which reminds me: are you going alone?"

"Ah, well, no. I'm allowed to have three others with me." Chrom said, a little caught off guard. "I thought you knew about that?"

In game it was six, including him, if I'm remembering this right. "Not really; I had thought it would've been a one on one."

Anyways, back on task. Must create super overpowered spell for the eventual god killing.

This new spell is…dust based. It will use dust and uber fast wind speeds to create blades of wind that will totally be awesome and shit.

_You didn't think this out did you._

Not to the part where the spell would actually be used, no.

_Including the part where dust is just too light to use as monomolecular cutters._

Yeah. Hey, I was distracted by Lissa, I have an excuse.

ANYWAYS…get some wood chips, let's make this shit work.

The wind magic creates a spiral effect around the wood, giving it a bullet-esque spin.

_You've never handled a firearm in your entire life._

I know the theory, and if all else fails I can re-understand it through the magic of trial and error.

Also included is a hold and fire trigger (not a usually used spell component because nobody sane wants to burn their hands off with their own spells) so I can hold a piece of wood, wrap it with spells, and then…take aim…fire!

…

That sound of wood on stone means I missed the target. It was...underwhelming.

"So, did you learn anything?" Chrom asked as soon as I lowered my arm.

"A little." I sigh. I learned that this would be easier if I used some needles instead of wood chips. Fuck aerodynamics.

...

Or nails. given how I'm going to propel an object using something with a fat bottom would work better.

…

_Remember that particular webcomic, where the concept of the "glass half full" was explored?_

The whole vacuum propelled glass thing?

_Think we can do that?_

Probably not…or at least not on a scale where it would be useful. Trying to build a mechanism that's reusable with currently available tech is probably expensive to the point of stupidity.

In any case, I'm better off using smooth objects for now with a spell like this.

_Or you could just not use this spell._

Or that.

…

"So, do you think it's possible to make a new healing spell? Miriel says it isn't." Lissa asked me during lunch.

About twenty seconds ago. Which means we're still having lunch.

"Uh…? You mean for me to make one?" I ask her. She nods.

"Depends; I don't know how healing spells work, so I can't really make it better." I shrug.

Lissa taps the ball on the tip of her staff in response, staring at it.

Besides, it's not like Recover staves are in short supply anywhere...right?

Lissa mulls it over with her lunch.

…

…

The afternoon was pretty much just more (orthodox) spell practice, until I can do it without needing to focus hard before shooting. Didn't see much of anyone else since I found an unused side room to practice in.

Apparently casting a spell without giving it enough power to deal damage doesn't burn out the tome. Something tells me this can be exploited.

…

…

"Hey! Ash!" I hear Robin call as I head down to dinner. "Come here a second!"

…

I go over, and note that she's…looking into a room?

"What's this about?" I ask her, peering into the room.

"They're the combatants we're going up against in the arena." Robin says.

Really.

Take a closer look…

…

There seems to be a serious lack of blue hair and mask.

Oh shit.

"Who's their best guy?" I ask Robin.

"A man by the name of Lon'qu. He's the one with the spiky black hair." She says, pointing to Lon'qu sitting in the middle.

So…

In story Lon'qu lost his spot to Lucina because Lucina was a girl and he instinctively seized up (more or less). If he's the contestant then…

Lucina either a. didn't make it in time somehow, or…she never came to this timeline to begin with.

…

Need to go ask.

This can get so bad so fast.

"Wait, where are you going?" Robin calls after me.

…

"Chrom."

I find him at dinner. He looks up from his food. "What do you need, Ash?"

Ah…really should have planned ahead. Fuck it, this is important.

"Back when you were attacked by the very first wave of Risen." He looks at me with a weird glint in his eyes. "What happened to you?"

"After the Risen showed up, we were attacked and barely managed to fend them off from within a nearby fortress until the Ylissean patrol showed up. Why do you ask?"

Shit, Lucina never showed up.

Oh so much shit.

"Nothing, just…uh, overthinking things." I pick a spot away from people and sit.

…

"Outrealmer, I believe you owe me some explanations." Robin showed up a few minutes later and singled me out almost immediately.

…

"I can't say." I shake my head. She refrains from slamming her hands on the table, and settled for clenching her fists until her knuckles turned white.

"You've been very straightforward before now, what's so different this time?" She demands in a low hiss.

"There are some serious inaccuracies between what I know about the world and what I'm experiencing." I say after thinking on it for almost a full minute. "And the magnitude of that difference is terrifying."

She clicks her tongue. "In other words you don't want to tell me."

"I don't want to tell any of you." I correct her, and feel her eyes burning through me.

"Oh really? Why?"

I sigh and lean in a bit. "Because right now I need to have every advantage I can get, until I hit some key points in the timeline."

One of her eyebrows go up. "Like what?"

...

Do I dare?

I dare.

...

"Like a certain umbrella-loving someone getting nabbed." I say.

Robin thinks it over for a few seconds then blink in comprehension. "And you want it to happen?"

"I want it to start. If it starts the way I know it should then we can freely finish it however we please."

Robin thinks it over. "What if something happens to her?"

"That's exactly why I don't want to say anything more than this; by default she's going to be fine." Wait.

Default means nothing. Maribelle is a pretty woman, a member of nobility, and going to be in the hands of people that hate what she represents. Doesn't take a goddamn genius to figure out what's going to happen to her outside of a game's script and the need to stay within the confines of a T rating.

Shit. In other words the odds of her getting out of her abduction without severe mental trauma is zero, regardless of how quickly Ricken can move.

_We are literally relying on the fact that Gangrel is batshit insane instead of vengeance driven, and just want her as a hostage and bait instead of...a trophy._

I guess my face exposed my thoughts, since Robin was looking at me with a progressively deeper frown. She then nods after a moment. "Whatever you think will happen, I expect a full briefing once it occurs."

"Yeah, sure." I am not focused anymore.

…

Robin leaves to get food.

Let's...let's stay focused on what's going to happen now.

_What's going to happen at this point?_

I know, or, rather, I have a fair amount of reason to believe that Laurent has made it across, so it's entirely possible that my entrance into the picture has changed things for the different.

_It certainly has for Maribelle._

_..._

...Shit, this means Chrom and Emmeryn are in danger during the assassination mission, as well as chapter 13.

_Your eyes reporting: Robin's got her food and sat across from Lissa. Lissa apparently asked her something and Robin's response was accompanied by a lot of hand motions and possible eye rolling. Either way Lissa's shooting you a lot of worried looks._

What else is going to change because Lucina is, at the very least, missing for this stage?

_Let's not get ahead of ourselves._

Fact: She's not competing.

_Opinion: She didn't make it across the dimension/time travel._

…

Point taken.

Ok, calming down a little now.

"Yo!" I hear someone as he accidentally knock my face into the table.

"Hi Vaike." That really hurt, man.

"Sorry, sorry. You just seemed so down and I wanted to cheer you up." He says with a wide grin. "You're too mopey, y'know? Laugh a little."

"Yeah, yeah." I'm a little preoccupied with all of the possible variations that might have occurred because Lucina's no longer with the time table, so forgive me if I end up ignoring you, Vaike.

"Huh. You're like Miriel, only without the big words." Vaike mutters to himself. "Well, if you need help, Sir Vaike here will be glad to help!" He says, with a confident, cocky grin and a thumb pointing to himself.

"Sure thing. Thanks." I smile a tiny bit. He claps me on the shoulders and walks away, and then stops to chat with Chrom.

…

Ugh.

Right. Any time spent worrying should be used preparing instead.

I'll find some way of protecting Maribelle when the time comes.

And I'll sub for Lucina when her role needs to be played, if she's not around.

Not the blood relation to Chrom part. That would just be terrifying.

…

Speaking of Chrom, seems like he just got a message. The messenger is speaking in his ear, and apparently it's pretty important.

Chrom just got up and left and more or less abandoned his plate.

_To be fair his plate is pretty much empty._

What gives?

_Follow him?_

Follow him.

…

…

Oh, it's Sumia.

I guess Sumia would be important.

Turns out that showing up late for the chapter means the border guard won't let her pass, so Chrom had to vouch for her position in the Shepherds.

On one hand this feels like a wasted plot point.

On the other hand she's safe and sound and perfectly a Pegasus Knight (if a little snow-logged and cold).

_Because obviously her importance as a plot point trumps her safety as a human being._

Why was she late though?

…

Given the sudden change of color of her cheeks Chrom apparently asked the same question.

She mumbles something that Chrom didn't catch, so he leans in closer. Enough time for me to get closer into hearing range too.

"I got lost in the snow." She says, barely loud enough for us to catch. Chrom sighs.

_You know what could've happened had she been more lost, right?_

She would've frozen to death. Yeah, not gonna laugh about that.

"Do you feel ok?" I ask her. I'm no doctor though.

"Yeah, why?" Sumia replies, looking at me a little oddly. Chrom apparently shares her confusion.

Uh…These people know about hypothermia, right? Most definitely, since the other Pegasus Knights were carrying spare blankets and stuff.

"Just worried; I don't think your armor's very protective against cold."

She looks down at the leather armor she's wearing. "I felt a little cold but I'm fine now." She smiles.

She's not shivering or anything, just wet and melty.

_There's something wrong about that description._

"I see Ash's point; have Lissa take a look at you later, alright?" Chrom says.

Sumia does a cute little bow. "Yes, my lord." Chrom's eyebrows twitch in what I'm assuming is frustration. He is a "let's all be friends" kind of lord, after all.

…

Five minutes later when we're resting in…what is passably a lounge (a fireplace, table, chairs. So I guess it's more of a meeting room than a lounge, but meh) Chrom finds a reason to talk to me.

"Ash, I know you're an Outrealmer; how much do you know?"

I assume he doesn't mean about his future.

"What subject are we talking about?"

"Well…let's say, farming." Chrom says with a wave of his hand.

Uh…

Not much?

_You spend all your time on TVtropes, safe to say you know nothing but useless trivia._

I played Harvest Moon. Potatoes grow after seven days.

_Oh for the love of_

"Not a whole lot; what kind of…farming plans is being used by Ylisse right now?"

"Why is that important?" Chrom sounds surprised.

"It isn't. I just need to get a frame of reference."

"Well, uh…" Chrom scratches his chin and looks off to a spot in a corner of the room.

_He doesn't know does he._

"I have to admit it's not something I paid much attention to." He finally admits, after having gone steadily redder while he was stalling for time.

I shrug. "It's alright; in my case, I'm largely familiar with concepts and not how to actually make them happen."

_Non-sequitor: You're older than Chrom. By a lot._

"Like...?" Chrom says hesitantly.

"Like, say, Slash and Burn, crop rotation, fertilization, yadda yadda. Concepts and ideas."

"I see." Chrom then falls silent.

Uhm…conversation, conversation…

"Out of curiosity, why did you ask?" There we go.

"Ah, well…Emm has been pretty insistent about me knowing a couple of things." He said, just as awkward as before. "And, well…" His eyes changed. "Given what has happened around here the people could use any advantage they can get."

The Risen, exploding earth, and near constant zombie attacks? Yeah, I can see why you'd think like that.

I stroke my chin for time. "Well, once things settle down I do a survey around Ylisse; I'm not quite sure how much help I'll be but it'll be a start."

He frowns slightly. "Can't you just access the documents in the castle? Wouldn't that be faster?"

_Yes._

But then again, at no point in any nation has there been such a thing as "too little corruption".

"Well, it would, I suppose." I say, not meeting his eyes.

He shrugs. "Sorry; it was just an idea."

I wave it off.

And then Lissa comes in.

"Hey Chrom! Oh hi Ash." She says with her characteristic bright grin. "Chrom, Vaike's going nuts at the barracks."

Chrom sighed. "Of course. I'll be there in a moment." He looks at me, I shrug. And then he gets up and leaves.

"What were you two talking about?" Lissa asks with a wry smile on her face.

"Farming." I deadpan.

"Booring." Lissa rolls her eyes and struts out.

…

Welp, let's read a little more before bedtime.

…

…

_And your last idea tonight is…_

Wind shield. Spin the wind conically around the focal point fast enough and it should deflect arrows.

_Keyword being should. Feel like testing that right now?_

Uh…

Y'know what? I'm feeling a bit tired so I'm gonna just go to bed now bye

…

…

…

_Hey. It's morning. Feel like testing that spell yet?_

Breakfast time

_HEY_

_…_

"Ash! Good timing." Chrom says the instant I walk into the…what do you call it?

_Dining hall? Mess hall? Food place?_

Food place sounds good.

"What did I miss?"

"We're going over the rosters one last time." Robin said, munching on a slice of bread. "It's going to be Chrom, Vaike, Miriel, and me." She points to each person with her bread as she ticked off each name. "Want a spot instead?"

"Nope." I shake my head.

Robin shrugs. "Spineless." She says with a smirk.

I shrug in response. "I'll watch from the sidelines, thanks."

Chrom nods. "Alright, if there are no objections, then we'll head down to the arena."

So I overslept? Bummer.

_Grab some bread to eat on the go?_

Looks like it.

…

…

Ah ha. The arena even has bleachers. Nifty.

Although I'm technically pretty late so front row seats are kind of hard to come by.

…

Who else is here, anyways? This is an arena inside a fortress.

_At what point did you think this was a fortress?_

When this was a border wall with Ylisse. I guess there would be a town attached that supports the garrison, huh…either way, the only people I see in the arena are off-duty soldiers.

_At what point did you recognize them as off duty soldiers?_

Meh, it's not important.

_HEY_

…

Ah ha. Lucky front row seat, next to…guy wearing large, face obscuring hoodie. No, not creepy at all.

"Excuse me, is that seat taken?" I say to the person.

He looks at me and flinches.

Flinches?

Before slightly shaking his head, so I'm good to sit.

_Wonder why he flinched, though?_

…

And the two sides walk into the arena a few minutes later accompanied by ungodly loud cheering.

I still remember when I thought my 3DS was broken before I realized that the arena stage actually had ambient noise in the form of the onlookers.

Good times.

The two sides meet in the center…

Chrom draws his Falchion, Lon'qu (probably Lon'qu, but it's too far to see a face from here) draws a sword, probably a steel one.

Vaike faces off against a Spear wielder.

Robin faces off against an Axe wielder.

Miriel in the back, but she's probably going to be occupying the archer.

…

On one hand we have total weapon triangle advantage, but on the other hand it feels like the other side purposefully chose these match ups.

Also it's less of a free for all and more of a "four one-on-ones happening at the same time."

Annd…

They're off!

_Who are we watching first?_

Vaike just charges shoulder-first into the spear wielder, knocking the poor guy away.

Vaike's a lot faster than I gave him credit for, wow.

The spear guy recovered his footing and counters with spear stabs.

Which Vaike either parries or dodges, but the two aren't making any more progress towards each other.

…

Robin's being physically overwhelmed by the axe guy, to nobody's surprise. Also the axe guy is cheating and going fisticuffs instead of using his axe.

_And Robin's shooting lightning out of her fingertips. I say the two sides are even._

The axe user is probably at an advantage though; Robin's being forced to almost exclusively counter due to the axe user's attacks and maneuvers, and she's not really landing a hit or getting close enough to be hit. She also can't break away far enough to properly use her tome, so she's stuck just shooting sparks at the guy.

…

Next is…

Miriel and the Archer are having a medieval-magic-ish-shoot-out-thing.

_What a masterful description._

She's constantly defending herself by using wind to bat arrows out of the way.

The archer is shooting fast enough (and with surprising accuracy) to stop Miriel from actually burning his ass to near-death.

…

Lon'qu and Chrom are…evenly matched.

Not as thematically awesome as the Chrom vs Lucina cutscene, but evenly matched all the same.

Lon'qu is generally faster with both his footwork and his swings, but he doesn't attack as often and prefers to hang back until the opportunity for counters show up.

Chrom on the other hand...has no issue going balls to the walls and just charge at Lon'qu most of the time. Goes without saying he's also aggressive as hell and his swings are large, exaggerated, and still forces Lon'qu to dodge them because there's just so much power behind them.

…

Man, it's hard keeping track of four fights at the same time, especially if you can't focus on them long enough to see anything.

_Don't try to get a blow-by-blow analysis then._

…

Robin's the first to break deadlock.

She charges into Axes with a shoulder charge like Vaike, but the difference in speed and weight means she kinda bounces off of him.

_Axes?_

I don't know who he is, so I'm calling him Axes.

_Sheesh._

Anyways, Axes brings his axe for an overhead swing, but Robin spins out of the way with her sword sticking out, cutting his armor. He then jumps back slightly for a sideways axe attack and then…

She steals my move!

_She modified it._

Robin keeps close to the Axe man and blocks his swinging arm (upper part) with the flat of her blade. She then elbows Axes in the face (with her sword arm), which knocks him off balance, and then grabs his throat with her left hand for a weak-thunder finish.

Axes is now on the ground and trembling. He tries to stand for a few seconds, before giving up and lying down on the ground.

Good going, girly.

…

Ok, the dude sitting next to me is making me uncomfortable; I think I'm being watched.

_Should've picked a quieter seat then._

…

Well, let's sit back a little and…watch the hooded man look at the fight out of the corner of my eyes.

…

He's either really damn buff or that robe is huge.

…

His head isn't moving a whole lot, which means he's focusing hard on one particular fight...

Or not looking at the fight at all.

…

He seems to be following the Chrom fight. Hmm…

"He's pretty good, isn't he?" I say suddenly. The man flinches because that's a horrible way to start a conversation. "The man with the giant sword, I mean."

The hooded man nods after a moment.

…

Did I just imagine that?

Because I just saw a wisp of blue.

_That would make him…_

Yeah.

"Beg pardon, but…" I lean in a bit closer. "Would you happen to know someone by the name of Lucina?"

…

Well, I almost got shanked for my troubles. She's a little bit jumpier than normal.

_Probably has something to do with you._

But she turned to look at me, and…yeah, that's the mask. Her hair's tucked into her clothes, right? They're…

Yeah if the game wasn't dependent on illustrations and modellers there would have been zero chance of her pretending to be a dude without cutting her pretty, pretty hair.

_Um._

I'm a sucker for long hair. Now shut up, trying to talk to savior of mankind.

"Yep, looks like it." I say after her hand has stopped trying to draw something from her clothes.

She doesn't respond, and only stare at me with…what can only be described as a blend of sheer fury and abject terror.

Do I look that bad?

_You could be in the future, you know._

…

Oh.

Oh that's a good point.

If she's looking at me like that then it's entirely possible I jumped off the slippery slope and went into all-out evil mode at some point.

Hmm…

Well, only one way to find out.

"Then again, maybe I'm just tired." I mutter, before standing up and leaving.

Last glimpse I catch of the fight is Vaike charging into Spears before Spears went for a groin attack with the fortunately not-stabby part of the spear.

…

Leave the arena, walk down a fairly straight and deserted hallway…

…

Are those footsteps behind me?

_Don't turn around and check or anything._

Well, let's hope it is. Continue walking normally.

Corner…corner is…right here.

Walk beyond the corner, stand a little out of how long I think her arms are, and wait.

…

…

And now I'm staring down the Falchion's tip, how wonderful.

Wow that sword is terrifying when you're on the wrong end of it.

"How." Lucina hisses. Her hood has come down, and what I can see of her face implies that she isn't happy.

"How…what?" I say after I calm down enough from seeing a sword pointed inches from my face.

"How are you here?" She snarls. The Falchion is actually trembling.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I say, tripping over my words a little.

I'm really regretting not carrying a spell book at this point.

"Don't fuck with me!" She almost yells.

...

_Future you taught her poorly._

Apparently.

...

I sigh. I'm not going to bluff my way out of this. "I didn't come from the future, if that's what you're asking."

Her sword goes down a fraction of an angle.

"Is future me really that bad?" I ask her.

No response.

_You would be the kind to slip straight into felony territory as soon as the arms of the law get eaten by vapor zombies._

Not helping my case, brain.

"Uh…can we talk? I think we should talk." I'm grasping at straws here.

The Falchion is trembling a lot. What gives?

…

Is…is she crying?

_Remember the part about how she had to restrain from leaping at her daddy Chrom? Maybe you weren't a total jackass in all of her memory._

I touch the Falchion, and find no resistance, so I push the blade out of the way.

"Are you ok?" I ask her.

Lucina seems to get a grip on where she is, since she took several deep breaths to calm herself and lowered the Falchion all the way to the ground.

"Sir, it's good to know that you're back to normal."

And then she gasps in surprise and tries to bring the Falchion into my face again.

_Normal, eh?_

"So that means future me is somehow less normal than I am now." I sigh. "It would help a lot of you could explain to me what's going on."

After a long moment of consideration, Lucina nods in response and sheathes the Falchion.

_So how much experience do you get for talking a time-travelling princess out of prematurely ending her supposed evil superior?_

Hopefully more than she'd get for gutting me.

…

"Where should I start…" Lucina says after trying and failing to find a good place to start for the past few minutes.

_You're on a time limit._

Noted.

"When did I become hated?" I ask.

She's obviously uncomfortable with the question. "When I turned seven and…father died."

I was never that loyal to begin with, so I don't think that was the only reason.

That also means Chrom didn't die during the duel between him and…malnourished dark elf. What's-his-face.

Validar.

"You were…upset, at the news." That sounds like an understatement. "Especially when Ylisse was given to the council of nobles to rule."

…

I'm apparently very pro-monarchy in the future.

_Said council could've been corrupt._

…

"There was another reason, wasn't there?" I say after a moment.

She nods. "You had recently gotten married."

_Parsing…_

I got married five years after the game ended.

_…Good effort?_

"Shortly after the council of nobles was established, your, uh…" She gulps.

I can see where this is going.

"I get the idea." I hold up a hand. No point making her recall horrific memories.

She nods. "Since she was attacked within the walls of Ylisstol, the nobles blamed you for being lax on the garrison; there were talks of having you imprisoned."

_Wow, what? And they thought that would work?_

"And I went nuts afterward?" I say, fake-lightly. I would go nuts afterward; that's a moronically unfair judgment on their part.

She nods. "You killed the council in retaliation and took control over Ylisse." Lucina then took a calming breath. "You were…harsh, as a ruler, and universally hated."

_Yay?_

"But you kept the country alive while everyone else was buried by the Risen." She continued. "Until we had to resort to…well, this."

Time travel by Naga.

…

_Might not be a good idea to ask just how harsh you were._

I can be pretty vicious if I go on tilt, especially after…especially after losing both a newlywed wife and an unborn child, and then be blamed for it.

Yeah. I think it would be enough to set anyone off.

…

We sat in silence until we heard the cheering of the audience. I sigh, getting her attention.

"No point worrying about that now; you're here for a job, right?" She cocks her side, and then nods. "Cool; do your thing."

She gets up to leave.

"Oh, just one more thing." She stops to listen to me. "What was my goal?"

"Your goal? To kill Grima." Lucina says, and then puts on her hood and leaves, mixing right into the people coming out of the arena.

_So the future you failed._

Looks like it.

_And Robin wasn't there to be a sacrifice._

And Chrom wasn't there to seal it.

Shit.

_So what are the victory conditions we have?_

One, have Chrom deal the final blow.

Two, have Robin deal the final blow.

Three, blow the shit out of Grima when it shows up with conventional weaponry. Somehow.

_Need to research nitroglycerin for that to happen._

…

One and a half: test to see if Lissa can wield the Falchion, despite not having a brand.

_Likely to fail._

Two and a half: kill Robin.

_Probably with hired assassins since Robin's a Friend. But this doesn't solve the problem of Grima still existing._

Three and a half: develop laser and rocket technology and kill Grima via Orbital Satellite Laser System.

_How do you plan to do that one?_

Details, details.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

I think this is the first time we stopped at a time other than sleepy time.

Which I think qualifies for some kind of irony since this is posting about five minutes before I head off to bed.


	6. From - The Longfort (2)

But before we can carry out glorious plans of annihilating an overgrown dragon down to molecules…

The arena match still has to resolve.

Which reminds me: I should probably not be missing right now.

_Get back to the others?_

Ayep.

…

I step into the waiting area for the good guys (us) and

"Ahh! Ash! You missed the end!"

The first thing that greets me is Lissa's pouting.

"Sorry, sorry. So I guess we won then?"

Lissa was busy patching up everyone's minor cuts. "Yep! Chrom knocked the other guy into a wall!" And Lon'qu's still alive? He's tougher than I thought.

"I saw the man sitting next to you leave shortly after you did; did something happen?" Robin asks.

Oh yeah. She's sharp.

"Oh really? Wonder why that was." I say as offhandedly as I can manage.

_Not going to lie about it?_

At no point will lying about the interaction happening be a good idea. Better to just pretend that it didn't happen.

Robin frowns a tiny bit, but let the matter drop.

"So what's going to happen now?" I ask Chrom.

"Now? You have your alliance." I hear a voice behind me. That must be…

Hello, uh…guy I never use because you show up way too late in the game.

"And who might you be?" Fredrick asks.

"I'm the Khan you just put out of power, lads." The man laughs. "Western Khan Basilio, nice to meet all of ya."

Fredrick immediately checks himself. "My apologies, sir, I had not-"

Basilio waves him off. "Not a problem. So what did you guys want out of this alliance anyways?"

"Military support against the Risen that have been appearing everywhere." Chrom said with a testing flex of his arm.

Basilio growls. "You're giving free access into Ylisse for our troops?"

Fredrick scowls. Did they not think this through?

Chrom nods. "Our two countries have had good standings for a long time. I, at least, trust you."

A laugh comes from behind us. I guess that would be…

Yes, Flavia.

Y'know, I always thought the two were together from the beginning.

_Nevermind them having no support levels with each other from the beginning._

"And your trust is well placed, prince. We'll make the arrangements shortly for our anti-Risen parties." Flavia says with a wide, wide grin.

I think there's like a million taunts waiting for Basilio when we leave.

"While we're on the subject of the Risen." Basilio waves a hand, and…Lon'qu walks over. From a solid wall.

…How the fuck did he do that?

"Take Lon'qu with you. His strength is more useful out in the field than hanging about here." Basilio says with a grin. Lon'qu does a slight bow.

"I see. Thank you both." Chrom says gratefully.

Oh, wait. Take a peek at Lissa…

Ooh, she's staring at Lon'qu. She's trying to stare without being overt.

Must not grin. Must not grin. Must not grin…

…

"What are you doing?" Robin asks me.

I turn away. Not grinning is hard.

…

…

After the arena match is the official ceremony for Flavia's ascension as the…what did they call it?

Oh well.

As the King Khan.

_That is sad._

He he he.

Anyways, Flavia's now the King Khan (or Queen Khan, I suppose) and her first order of business is to forge a military alliance between Ferox and Ylisse.

Unfortunately for us we don't get to stick around for the after party.

…

Which means I get to ride back home to Ylisstol with Lissa while she sulks about missing the banquet.

…

…

Soon enough, we come upon the…oh wow.

Yeah, the game really does glaze over the minor skirmishes with Risen that occurs.

A few Risen is savaging the remains of a few dead travellers.

Lon'qu, by virtue of riding alone, charges forward with his sword raised.

And then he rides straight into the Risen and cuts them down amazingly fast.

…

Out of the corner of my eye I see Robin take out her notebook and scribble furiously.

And then I hear a sigh from a girl sitting a foot or so away from me.

_And then your idiotic grin returns to your face._

…

"The extent of damage is worse than I thought." Chrom mutters after we pass by the umpteenth burned field.

"Between the Risen and the bandits, the village militia won't do anything." I mutter.

"What makes you think there would be bandits?" Lissa asks, leaning back into me for (I think) moral support.

"Mass confusion, no standing military, poor training…if I were a bandit I would be having a blast." I say.

Lissa says nothing.

…

One advantage to our return path: we cross a village for the night instead of camping out.

…

On Robin's suggestion, we the Shepherds decided to stay up late to wait for the inevitable rain of Risen.

…

Which goes over pretty well, since the giant glowing eyes in the sky popped up before midnight.

Welp, time to magic my way out of this.

The amount of Risen that fell into the village is…five.

The amount of Risen that fell outside is…a number bigger than five.

Chrom and Vaike are at the village square.

Robin and Miriel are at the walls. Or rather, the odd mixture of stone and wood that passes as the village walls.

Fredrick and Lon'qu are at the gate.

Sumia is guarding Lissa, flying low over the village buildings.

And I'm…I get to do whatever the fuck I want. Awesome.

Draw sword. First Risen…sighted. Sword user, Mercenary type. Did he see me?

Does he see? The Risen have way too much variance in their detection abilities.

Wave my sword at him.

Risen's sword comes up and he walks towards me. So I did get his attention. Awesome.

I feel bad for you, Undead Vapor Zombie man.

Undead Shambling Vapor Zombie man.

_How many qualifiers can you fit into one description?_

If only because I don't fight fair.

Here's a blast of highly concentrated wind aimed at your shins.

You're now on the ground, so all I gotta do is…

Concentrate…and…

STAB through the core.

_Kick them while they're down._

Second Risen…has heard the commotion?

It's running at me at full speed regardless.

Blast of wind into your chest.

_Risen is now no longer charging._

Blast of wind aimed at your shins again.

_Risen is now no longer standing._

Stab through the core.

_Risen is now no longer un-living._

I like this spell. It's nice.

…

Third Risen…fell to Chrom slicing it to pieces.

Fourth Risen died to Miriel lighting all of it on fire.

Fifth Risen…is unaccounted for.

Shit.

"Robin! Where did the fifth one fall to?" I shout at her.

"That way!" She says, pointing in a general direction and illuminating her finger with a small puff of fire.

I run in the direction she points to just as I hear her direct Sumia to assist me.

…

Did I ever mention how much night fighting sucks?

The village has more or less turned in for the night (or hiding in fear, one of the two) so the amount of light that's available on the street is minimal to the point of nonexistent, with the bright areas being the village square, which I just ran away from.

_And now you're trying to chase down a zombie in a dark alley._

The amount of thought I placed into this course of action is remarkable.

Oh well. Milk has been spilled, so now it's time to smile while cleaning it up.

_That adage doesn't work very well adapted, does it._

No, no it doesn't.

Now where is that little fucker?

"Sir!" I hear someone call behind me. Followed by footsteps, and glorious, glorious light.

_Praise the torch!_

Some villagers have grabbed spears, though they omitted their pot helmet. "We want to help, sir. What should we do?"

I will never get over the fact that I'm technically a ranking officer. Also their spears are like just sticks.

"One of the bastards fell over there." I point into the oddly run-down batch of houses. "We're going to sweep the houses one by one kill it."

"Sir, those houses have been abandoned for a while now." The man said, obviously not liking the idea of going into said houses.

"Good, so we won't need to worry about any casualties." I look at their…faces of mixed emotions. They want to help but at the same time they want to live. Makes sense. "Look through the houses in teams of three. Don't let each other out of sight. If you see the Risen, yell for help even if you think you can kill it."

I take a deep breath. "It's vital that all of you survive; don't take any unnecessary chances."

The militia leader's doubt and confusion is replaced by fierce determination.

Is that really all it took? These guys have pretty low opinions of Ylissean nobility if a "don't die" is all it took to rally them.

_They might just have low opinions of the Ylissean army, since these guys should still remember the order to "kill everything Plegian."_

Point taken.

"Go." They nod, disperse in teams of three, and begin systematically sweeping the houses.

…

I hear wings over my head.

"Ash, I'm here to help." Sumia said, passing down a torch to me from her perch on her Pegasus.

"Wonderful. Keep an eye on us up there."

"Huh?" Sumia said, about to land besides me. "You don't want me here?"

"Your eyes are more useful in the sky than on the ground. There's a militia force here; help them too."

She nods. "Be careful." She then takes off into the sky, flying fairly low over the houses.

Ok…

I just sent away someone who can watch my back in favor of searching through dark, abandoned houses for a monster that could literally kill me with a single hit.

My priorities seem to be in check.

…

House one…clear, nothing in here except spiders and cobwebs.

House two…nada.

House three…clean. Although some upturned furniture and scraps of…stuff, shows signs of something or someone being here recently.

"We found it!" I hear someone yell, and dash out of the house.

Sumia had perched her Pegasus on top of the house, so I know where to run to.

Run run run

…

The lone Risen (a Myrmidon type, by the looks of it; no weapon though) is batting wildly at the three guys pointing their shaky little sticks in its direction.

Fortunately it doesn't seem to want to collide into said shaky little sticks.

_Which implies a sense of self preservation._

Which is bad for us.

Welp, party trick number one, coming right up. Pick out a dagger…

"Get back!" One of the men suddenly shout.

The Risen lunges forward and collide with one of the guys trying to contain it. Said Risen now has a stick in its stomach, but its lack of digestive system means it doesn't care.

_The Risen is about to savage the man, by the way._

I know. Focus…focus…

_The Risen has sunk a claw into the man's face. He's now screaming in pain._

Now!

I "push" the dagger with the strongest wind bullet I can make.

The Risen reels back, so that's probably a hit.

The Risen stands up and roars at the source of the dagger, aka me.

So before he notices that the guy he was savaging was pulled away…

Charge into his face!

…

Or Sumia could jump down from her Pegasus and run it through vertically THROUGH THE FUCKING HEAD. That works too.

She literally jumped down with her spear point driving into the top of its skull. The spear's now stuck in the ground and Sumia's jumping around in a little bit of pain.

"What were you thinking?" I ask her once I rushed up to the Risen, who was still struggling despite the fact that it was now forced to stand up straight because a spear has connected its brain to its ass. "Nevermind that. Are you ok?"

Sumia looks a little dazed and in pain. Considering she more or less jumped down the combined height of a house and a horse I'm not the least surprised.

"Yeah. I'm not as used to the whole jumping thing as Chrom." She says apologetically.

Wait, wait. You can train for that?

The Risen hasn't stopped struggling. Let's stop that right now.

Focus on its core…get behind him, and strike!

My aim is getting better.

_You've hit three non-moving targets._

Still getting better.

I shake my head. Small wonder Cynthia is so gung-ho, if her mother could do things like this. "Militia! Get your man and this lady to the cleric." I then remembered I have no idea where Lissa is.

"Where did you drop Lissa?"

"At the town square; Vaike took a hit and needed to be patched up." Sumia said, contemplating her spear which was stuck in the ground.

I sigh. "Ok then, get to the town square." I look at the spear, now devoid of Risen since it vanished. "Can we turn this spear into a monument?"

Sumia looks at me, confused.

The villagers look at me, confused.

I grin. "It's the place where an angel came and struck down evil."

Sumia blushes. I think. It's hard to tell in the torchlight.

The villagers cheer and laugh, even the guy that got clawed in the face.

_He's also kind of bleeding profusely so a little urgency would be nice._

…

"I heard from Miriel that you were a spell maker. Was what you did there one of the spells you made?" Sumia asked.

"The thing with the dagger? Kind of." I shrug; the dagger I threw lodged into the Risen's body and had vanished along with the Risen.

"You were not a mage before you joined the shepherds, correct?"

"I…yeah, I wasn't." Not much chance of using magic in the real world.

_Sufficiently advance science…_

Yeah, yeah. We're not that sufficiently advanced yet.

"Then you've learned to do all this so quickly…I find that amazing." Sumia smiles at me. I can see why she's number one on Chrom's wife list; that smile is endearing.

I shrug, because I'm not sure what to say in response.

…

"Ash, Sumia. Did…what happened?" Chrom said, looking a tad panicky when he saw Sumia come down from her Pegasus with a little stumble.

"Sumia heroically murdered a Risen." I say with a wide grin on my face.

Chrom looks at me confused. "Is…is that so, uh…"

Sumia's just quite a bit blushy while Lissa looks after the guy with the profusely bleeding facial damages.

_So in a sense they're both red in the face._

Yeah. That's...actually pretty correct.

…

With the immediate threat handled, all of us Shepherds go back to the inn to sleep.

On the way, I heard Chrom mutter about how the Feroxi troops can't come in fast enough.

…

[Next day]

…

"Sir, I think there's something you should know." A man says to me, complete with what he thinks is an Ylissean military salute.

Actually it's Scarface. Lissa's healing worked wonders on keeping him from actually dying from the wound, but now he's got three jagged scars running across his cheek to show for it.

Compared to dying, looking unspeakably badass is a pretty good tradeoff.

"What?" I ask him.

"The Risen were apparently attacking someone else last night."

…

Well, that's new.

He bows. "I'm sorry that I couldn't have told you sooner."

I wave his excuse away. "You were bleeding and dying; so who were they attacking?"

"Well, uh…she's still in that house. I think she's still sleeping."

She?

_Well, let's go see._

"Alright; let's go take a look."

…

It's a good thing the house is marked with Sumia's spear or it would've been really hard to find.

"Why are these houses so run down?" I ask the man. Dale, I think he said his name was.

"Sir. These houses belonged to people that died during the first Risen attack."

"I see."

And any subsequent attacks plus lack of general population flow means there's zero incentive to fix up a house that's not going to be used.

Anyways…door…door…the Risen bashed through this door during the night. So it's just door hinges.

Rooms…

Staircase that's utterly trashed…

More rooms…

Ah ha. Bundle of dirty robes.

Poke.

Poke again.

"Hey. Wake up."

The bundle stirs.

"Good morning…oh, you're not them." The girl (definitely a girl) said groggily.

"Who?" I ask her.

"Lloyd and Linus." She rolls back over to sleep some more.

…

_Parsing._

…

WHOA WAIT WHAT

"Who are they?" Dale asks.

"My brothers." The girl mumbles into her clothes.

"That would make you Nino. Are you Nino?" I ask her. This is weird.

"Hi." She's still mumbling into her clothes.

…

I didn't figure Nino for a heavy sleeper.

Uh…what do I do now?

"Nino, where are you right now?" I ask her.

"Here."

...

_What were you expecting?_

…

" 'Here' is a country called Ylisse." Dale says helpfully. The man knows what I'm up to.

The bundle of cloth finally stirs. "What's that?"

I wish I had some caffeine.

"Not Bern." I say.

_That _gets her attention. Nino shot up to her feet, and then stumbles a little because her oversized travel robes got under her feet.

Her hood falls down while she's struggling for footing, revealing her bright green hair.

"Is she the Speaker?" Dale breathes.

The only other person in all of Awakening that has green hair is Tiki.

This could get really ugly really quick, although it does kind of explain why the Risen wanted to kill her.

Nino finally got her footing and sheds her robes, revealing her…I don't know if those count as her game clothes, but I think they look similar enough: a white dress with blue top.

No cape though, which interesting, since it makes her look absolutely tiny. I think she's actually tinier than Lissa.

"Oh! Hello!" She says with a bright smile.

…

So narcolepsy aside she's a bundle of energy. Interesting.

"Yes, hi. Do you know where you are now?" I ask her (again?)

"Uhm…" She looks around. Not gonna lie: that skirt length is going to get her into a lot of trouble.

_And the green hair won't?_

"You said something about Bern?" She says with a light blush.

_How much listening would you do if you were deep asleep and some guy just came in and started to question you?_

Point taken.

"Yeah. We're not in Bern." I sigh. I don't even know if this Nino is "real" or not.

Her face falls. "I fell asleep waiting for my brothers and…now I'm here." She grumbles.

…

"All things considered you're pretty calm about this." I say, perhaps a tad hypocritically.

Nino mulls things over for a brief moment, and then shrugs with a big smile.

"Everything will be alright." She says confidently.

…

"Sir, is that girl related to the speaker?" Dale asks, having deduced that Nino wasn't Tiki.

"No, I don't think so." I shake my head.

"Who's the speaker?" Nino asks curiously.

"A girl that shares your hair color." I reply.

Nino tugs a little at her hair. "Huh. Do I get to meet her?"

…

Oh, right.

I pull off my money pouch. There's like, 50 gold there.

"Dale, catch."

He does, and looks at me quizzically.

"It's not much, but you deserve it; courage and determination should be rewarded. Thank you for saving this girl."

Dale seems to contemplate looking inside, but thinks against it and accepts the gold with a small smile.

….

We decided that the run down house is probably not the best place to interrogate a little girl, so the three of us leave and join up with the main group.

…

"Ash, who's that behind you?" Robin asks upon seeing the honestly not very conservatively dressed Nino bounce behind me.

Yes, she's not walking, she's bouncing.

"Perhaps she is related to the speaker?" Fredrick says.

"Who?" Robin asks.

"The Speaker for Naga. Supposedly she too is a lady with bright green hair." Fredrick looks at Nino. "Although I have to admit, I don't think the speaker is this young."

"Hey! I'm 14!" Nino sounds a little bit indignant about being called young.

"Then no, they're not related. The speaker is like a thousand years old." VAIKE, of all people, pitches in.

Also dude Tiki's way older than that.

"Ash, who is she?" Robin asks for clarification.

"I'm Nino, thank you very much." Nino huffs.

"Yes, nice to meet you, Nino. Who is she?" Robin said impatiently, adding the last bit for me.

"Hey!" Nino doesn't enjoy being ignored.

_Who would?_

"She's a girl we found in the abandoned section of the village." I say.

Robin sighs. "That's wonderful, but…?"

I feel like I'm being fished for information. "But…what? What kind of answer are you expecting?"

"What is she…to you?" Robin asks.

"A girl we found in a house…what are you trying to ask?" I am very, very confused at this point.

"Bright green hair isn't exactly a common occurrence around here." Robin says with finality.

Oh…she thinks Nino's an Outrealmer.

"I'm from Bern." Nino says.

"I don't know what that is." Robin deadpans.

Out of the corner of my eye…Fredrick seems to at least recognize the name.

"This is going nowhere fast." I scratch my head. "Long story short: Nino here was targeted by the Risen. I think we should take her with us."

"What?" I hear multiple people say (something to that effect). Nino included.

"I can handle myself." Nino pouts.

"Taking her along with us would put us at a disadvantage, Ash." Miriel cautions me. "If she is being targeted as you imply…"

"Then leaving her alone will just get her killed." I look at her. "How long do you think it'll take before a village decides that the girl with the bright green hair is too much trouble and throw her out?"

Silence.

"I can handle myself!" Nino insists.

I turn to her. "With what?"

She looks down at her belt.

"Oh." Her face fell. "Damn."

_Linus should watch his language around his little sister._

"I don't think the nobles will be very pleased at us bringing what they think is a foreign…well…" Fredrick says, trailing off.

I don't want to know where that sentence goes, although I have a guess.

"Would that be changed if she had something less revealing?" I ask him.

"Possibly." Robin mutters.

"Don't I get a say in this?!" Nino sounds confused, determined, and terrified in equal measure.

"Depends; what do you plan to do?" I ask her.

Nino stops.

Did…did she really not think that through?

She slumps. "I don't know."

Chrom smiles at her. "Then, please accompany us; we'll keep you safe until you can make your decision later."

Nino looks at him.

I think I can hear her heart skip a beat.

Hoo boy.

_To be fair, yours did too, and you're a guy._

…Ok, fair point. Chrom is like the dashing-est lord so far.

_Most dashing._

…

…

So, travel arrangements.

Nino's riding with Lon'qu.

…Who decided that?

Lon'qu looks like he's going to be…uh. Well, not-well. The fact that Nino doesn't have anything to change into doesn't help. The village isn't big enough to have its own stores and Chrom wouldn't accept charity from the needy. So she's still wearing that dress with the anime-length skirt.

Lissa looks pouty. Really damn pouty.

I wonder why.

Given that both Nino and Lon'qu both looks supremely uncomfortable…

"Lissa, do you want to switch with Nino?" I ask her.

"Can I?!" Lissa is enthusiastic about the switch, to put it mildly.

Lon'qu is looking at me like I'm trying to assassinate him. Sorry, man, but she's got a thing for you and this ship needs to leave the harbor.

Nino looks…a bit cowed. I guess Lon'qu is a little terrifying.

"Uh, I mean, sure." Lissa backpedals after Chrom looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Nino (rather gratefully) switches places with Lissa.

_Couldn't Miriel have switched with Nino?_

Yeah, I guess. I don't think she would listen though.

_Or Sumia._

Sumia needs to fly.

…

…

Nino spent the rest of the time on the road with her head on a swivel, taking in everything and muttering excitedly under her breath.

I figured she was excitable, but I didn't think…

_Remember that she grew up with assassins._

Oh…yeah. That. It would be reasonable for her to have learned a few tricks of their trade. Such as watching her surroundings carefully.

…

Still, she's adorable and has magical badassery of epic proportions.

…

While we're on the subject of Nino. What the fuck is she doing here?

No, more importantly. How did she get here?

_Suddenly and abruptly, much like you did._

Well, yeah, sure, but…

_At no point did the brochure of time travelling shenanigans suggest that only characters relating to the Awakening plot would appear due to time travel reasons._

…That doesn't quite explain why it would be Nino and not someone like, say, Ninian.

And more importantly we don't know if it's time travel we're talking about at all.

_Meaning?_

Meaning the plot of Fire Emblem Seven could be happening right now, or relatively close to right now.

_In other words, Nino was just blown across a continent or two._

The Awakening map is too small to be a proper "world"; it would make sense if Elibe was, say, south of the Ylisse coastline.

_Ylisse's not even close to the equator, if you consider how temperate it is…_

Yeah, wow. Every continent in Fire Emblem continuity would fit on the same planet.

_And they would all be Europe._

…

"Hey. Uh…" Nino says.

"Hmm?"

"Where am I?" Nino asks. "I know I'm not in Bern anymore."

"You're in the country of Ylisse, on the continent of Akaneia." Good thing I paid token attention to the backstory.

"Ok…" I didn't answer her question, by the looks of it.

"In other words you're really far away from home with little chance of returning. Do you remember how you got here?"

"No. I went to bed and then I woke up here." Nino sighs. "Maybe mother left some magical trinket out."

…

Shit.

…

Wait. She mentioned Lloyd and Linus before. So this is the Black Fang Nino. Ok. I panicked for no reason there.

"You seem to know…a lot." Nino sounds a bit unsure of that statement.

"I just have very good guesses."

_Stealing lines from old men now, are we?_

…

After some more travelling, we finally hit upon the walls of Ylisstol.

After our horses have been stabled…

"Robin." Fredrick calls to her, and then indicates to Nino with a tilt of his head.

Robin nods. "Hey, girl."

"Nino." Nino responds almost immediately.

"Nino. We need to get you some new clothes."

Nino looks down at her outfit. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"It's too…revealing." Robin says, and then looks at me.

"Really?" Nino mutters.

"You're showing a lot of leg and that's kind of unusual around here." I say.

"It's pretty normal in Bern though." Nino says, but follows Robin all the same.

"Sorry to trouble you, Robin." Fredrick says with a slight bow.

Robin smiles. "Not a problem; c'mon, let's get you something good."

Yay, shopping time for them.

I follow everyone else indoors to the Castle.

…

And then I become deaf because Chrom has a lot of admirers in the royal ladies.

I can see why Fredrick wanted Nino to dress down some.

_She would've been torn to shreds._

…

"Ash." Chrom says to me, once we've gotten past the small crowd.

"Yeah?"

"I need to make a report to Emm. I want you to come along." Why?

"What's the occasion?"

He takes a breath.

"Of the shepherds, you seem to have the greatest amount of worldly information. I would like your opinion on a few things."

…Does that make me a politician? I feel like it makes me a politician.

"Sure."

…

…

"Sis." Chrom does a ceremonial bow, but since we're alone here it was more for appearances than anything else.

Of note: also attending the meeting is Lissa, Virion, and Fredrick, as well as a map of Ylisse.

"Chrom, it's good to see you safe." Emmeryn smiles.

"I have my friends to thank for that." Chrom smiles back.

And then everyone looks grim.

"So what's the news?"

Virion taps the map on the western-most edge. The border with Plegia. "The Pegasus knights have reported a buildup of troops along the Plegian side of the border. It's fair to say that they will be attacking soon."

Chrom's…doing a little seething. "Then it's fortunate we have the alliance with Ferox; how are our preparations?"

Virion looks uncomfortably at Emmeryn.

"I will speak with the king of Plegia, and find out why they desire a war." Emmeryn says diplomatically.

"Sis…" Chrom starts to object.

…

The huff that just escaped from my lips could be classified as "Wow you are naïve" compressed into a single note.

…

"Is there something you'd like to say, sir Ash?" Emmeryn says with a small smile.

"I'm not one for formalities, your eminence, so I'll just cut to the chase. Do you really need to ask them why they're attacking?"

…

Virion scowls. "Certainly, good sir, you don't mean…"

I look at him.

"…that they are attacking in vengeance, after all those years of inaction?"

"That's exactly what I mean." I nod at him.

"Ash, that's preposterous." Chrom says. "If they wanted vengeance for what my father did, they would've attacked a long time ago."

"Which is true, but we're putting that issue aside for now. Your highness, how do you plan to persuade them?"

_This is your chance to stop her from ever needing to hop off the ledge to begin with._

I'm working on it.

"I shall personally speak with the king of Plegia. It will not be an easy task, but I'm sure we will come to a conclusion that's satisfactory for both of us."

Must…resist…urge…of putting head into wall…

I take a few calming breaths. No head of state is this naïve. I do not believe she is actually this naïve. She did not survive through years of hatred from her own populace just to be this naïve. "And why should he listen to you?"

…

"Oy, oy, Ash. You're insisting that a leader of a country will just ignore another one?" Virion has a small laugh at that.

"No. I'm saying that a country being driven by hatred isn't going to listen to its mortal enemy preach peace."

Silence.

_Germany's hatred made a lot of bad shit happen after world war one._

To be fair it was more because Hitler was fucking insane than anything else.

_True._

"The fact that you're willing to resort to diplomacy first and foremost is commendable, but…there's a time and place, lady, and this is not the time or place."

"Ash. Do you really believe that Plegia will ignore my sister?" Chrom says worriedly.

She has that reputation built up behind her as a beacon of peace, after all.

"It ultimately depends." I say after a long moment. "Not everyone in Plegia is in favor of war, but those people are also not the ones in power, given the circumstances."

"I would like to avoid a war; it serves no purpose." Emmeryn says.

"All of us would like to avoid a war." I shrug. "But right now the choice isn't ours to make. A man dedicated to killing you won't stop just because you don't want to fight back."

"Sounds like you know more than you're willing to share. Again." Fredrick remarks.

I sigh. "In a sense; I heard that the king of Plegia is a little bit insane." And possibly being manipulated by an outside force.

_Technically the Grimleal is an inside force._

"So this king is why they're about to invade?" Chrom says. "The man is mad!"

Mad Gangrel is mad. What are the odds?

Also judging by Fredrick's comment Plegia (or Ylisse, or both) hasn't spied on each other for a while.

"So they say." I laugh. "Either way, with his ass at the helm Plegia's not going to back down from a war; I doubt he'll even need a reason to do it."

What's with the game forcing Gangrel to look for a casus belli anyways? Wars have been fought for lesser reasons than "Because you slaughtered the shit out of my country and I want payback." It's not like Plegia's worried about excommunication and they're already in poor terms with every country on the continent.

"If he does that, Plegia will be the target of the world." Robin says behind me, having finished her shopping, apparently. "She's pretty easy to shop for, as it turns out."

Nino shows up behind her, wearing her outfit but with some cloth pants underneath her skirt…pants that doesn't reach down very far.

But she's now wearing thigh highs along with her boots. Either way, she's not showing as much leg.

"I didn't know where you were." Robin said apologetically to the room.

Nino points at herself and then at the door. "Should I not be here?" is what her body language implies.

I shrug. Nino takes a seat at the table and tries to look as small and insignificant as possible.

Emmeryn doesn't seem mind in the least, given the beaming smile she gave to Nino.

"Ash. Why do you believe Plegia has a desire to fight?" Robin asks me after she had taken a seat.

I stare at her blankly. "Because their next-door neighbor tried to wipe them off the map. Why else?"

"So why not attack sooner?" Virion said with a small smirk. It's quite obvious he doesn't want to believe that a war is unavoidable.

Well, nobody wants to believe that.

"Because they couldn't." I admit to spending a few nights mulling this over.

"What?" Chrom narrows his eyes.

"Think about it. Plegia's not a self-sufficient country to begin with. Most of their territory is either wastelands or deserts. That type of land doesn't make for good farming."

"Most of Plegia's income is based on mineral exports, if I remember right." Robin mutters. "They were pretty wealthy as a result."

"Plegia was an importer of food from Ylisse before the previous king declared war, and the biggest exporter for military equipment." Fredrick says. "Of course, they're not buying anything from us nowadays."

"Yeah. Now imagine, what's the best way to stop a starved country from counterattacking?"'

Silence.

Then the dawning realization occurs.

"No…" Robin puts a hand to her mouth.

Chrom narrows his eyes. "Are you suggesting that my father was correct?"

"No. Hell no." I raise my hands in refusal. "But he did buy you the time to get Ylisse back under control."

"Wait, I'm confused." Lissa raises her hand. "What did you mean?"

"He means…that the best way to stop a counterattack is to burn Plegia to the ground." Virion breathes.

"Which Emmeryn's dad did to the best of his ability. With Plegia in shambles there was no way for any king to muster the support or manpower for a war, thus Ylisse got to enjoy a few years of peace." I stop to look at Chrom, Lissa, and Emmeryn in turn. "While the people of Plegia picked up what remained of their life."

I look at Emmeryn. "You weren't allowed access into Plegia back then, I assume."

Emmeryn shakes her head. "My days were spent for the sake of Ylisse."

"And Ylisse is all the better for it. Unfortunately nobody like you existed in Plegia, and even if they did, Plegian life is hard enough without the devastation caused by war."

I sigh, largely because I just remembered a third point.

"Long story short, it's entirely possible that Plegia is attacking as a mixture of both hatred and desperation."

"Because Plegia isn't importing from us, and Valentia is embroiled in its own war right now." Fredrick says, with a glance towards Virion.

Valentia? Must be Valm before it was Valm.

Virion was a noble from the…Rosanne? Which was on the other continent, if I have my backstory right.

"Between reconstruction, general day to day, and what is most likely an overly devout focus on military presence, I think it's safe to say that Plegia's running out of money, since they have no export market." Not to mention resources being diverted to the Grimleal.

"You don't believe they're close to running out of food?" Virion asks me.

Hmm…mulling it over for a minute.

"I think…if they were close to running low on food, Plegia would break at the seams. They have the logistics to put and support an army near the border, after all."

"So they're attacking only for robbing us? The dogs!" Chrom snarled.

"Chrom." Emmeryn said sharply.

"Blame their nobles, not their people." I say to him. Emmeryn looks at me all surprised. "The common folk would like nothing better than to live their days in peace. It's us nobles that worry about world events and call them into war."

"I see." Chrom takes a deep breath. "I expected that from Emm, not you, Ash." Chrom laughs.

"Do you believe that this hatred can be resolved without bloodshed?" Emmeryn asks me.

"No, I do not." Giving in to Plegia's demands would literally summon a giant fuckoff dragon, so it's not a good idea.

"Then what do you recommend?" Fredrick asks. I think he's just asking to be polite.

I sigh.

"Emmeryn is extremely stubborn so I think she'll just keep trying to talk to them no matter what I say." Emmeryn smiles just a little proudly at that statement.

"You got that right." Lissa mutters.

"So my suggestion is to have plan B ready. The instigator of this second war would be Plegia, so if we cut off their warmonger heads we should be fine." I stretch.

"You sound like my dad." Nino says. Before realizing that she said anything and then going red with embarrassment.

I sound like Brendon Reed?

"With the whole 'death to evil' thing?" I laugh.

Nino nods, face still in her hands. Then she looks up. "Wait, how did you know my father was?"

"You mentioned Lloyd and Linus." I shrug. "I sympathize with their sentiments." A pity that he married a blow-up doll.

"Who is your father?" Emmeryn asks Nino.

"Um, he's the leader of the Black Fangs back in Bern. The best mercenaries in the world!"

Mercenaries. Right.

"Uh…" Lissa looks at me blankly. I shrug in return.

…

"Very well. I will attempt to contact Plegia." Emmeryn says, getting up.

"And we'll get ready for a war just in case." Chrom gets up as well.

…

"Ash." Robin catches me after the meeting was adjourned. Chrom and Emmeryn had left earlier, busy discussing something.

"What's up?"

"Uh…right. Outrealmer." Robin was confused for a second. I need to stop using slang. "Do you really think Plegia has no market? There's a war on the other continent, after all."

Hmm…

Walhart's reason for attack was to organize Valm under one banner, and then crush the shit out of the Grimleal. I don't think that would've changed all that much, even with the disturbance that is me showing up.

"I think…Valm's king right now has an ulterior motive for his war."

Robin rolls her eyes. "And you know what the reason is and don't want to tell me."

I nod. "Sorry."

Robin sighs. "Fine, they're too far away to be a problem right now anyways; so you think that if the other nations on Valentia purchase arms from Plegia, it'll make them a target?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it. In reality Plegia will still be exporting, but I don't think it's enough to fill their coffers." Or the Grimleal's, depending on how greedy the religious ones are.

Robin nods. "I see. Thanks." And she runs off.

"What was that all about?" Nino asks.

I shrug. "So, what's going to happen to you now?" I ask her.

"I'm going to be living in the castle as a guest of Lady Emmeryn." Nino says, tripping over Emmeryn's name a little.

"That's good." I let of a sigh of relief. "I think I'm going to be busy for the next month, but I'll come visit whenever I can."

"What? Where are you living then?" Nino asks.

"The Shepherd quarters." Nino's not sworn in as a Shepherd; which is a pity, really.

"Oh. Maybe I should join up too."

"For Chrom?" I grin.

"Huh?"

"Nevermind." She's a little too innocent to tease like that, apparently.

…

…

_So, what are we doing for the next month?_

Diving deeper into magic and figuring out how to kill Gangrel from a quarter of a mile away. Hopefully further.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Yay Nino!

I don't really have anything planned for Nino. I just like Nino because she's adorable.

Also:

_**Casus belli**_ is a Latin expression meaning "An act or event that provokes or is used to justify war".

Copied straight from wikipedia, for those of you not familiar with the term. I try to avoid using terms from languages I don't use, but there wasn't a better one that summed up the situation.


	7. From - Shepherd Barracks (2)

The best part about having daily routines is…

Being able to blink and find out that weeks have passed.

Or something.

_So what did you do for the past few weeks?_

Magic research involving wind and thunder…

_No fire?_

No fire. It doesn't burn, so it's not as important.

Anyways, magic research, training with whoever is generally around the barracks, usually Stahl, riding lessons with the squires that showed up…

_Squires?_

I guess they would still be Cavaliers.

Emmeryn still has her reputation of being extremely anti-war so she can't exactly muster troops, but Ylisse needs a standing army to counter whatever bullshit Plegia might be planning. Robin came up with the brilliant idea of drawing new recruits from the wealthier citizens of Ylisstol to build an all-cavalry unit for the purposes of "responding to the Risen threat that plagues Ylissean countryside" as an alternative force to the Pegasus Knights.

_You pitched in with the idea._

Well, yeah, that too.

_The active mind had suggested that the unit be composed of anyone relatively wealthy enough to provide their own horse, as opposed to just the nobility as Robin had suggested._

What the passive mind said. Anyways, so the new recruits are being put through their paces, with Fredrick and Sully teaching them in turn, and with me tagging along for extra riding lessons and acting as an instructor when they're a little swamped.

It's a little odd to be teaching people older than me, I have to admit. A majority of the citizen cavalry are composed of fairly wealthy 30somethings who were shop owners or traders or the like. The rest is composed of noble teenagers who are in the unit per their parent's wealth and blessings.

I don't think any parent wants to send their child off into battle, but that's the lie we spun.

_And they bought it. Well, most of them._

...

Magic research and lessons have gone over pretty well.

I figured out that wind can also be used as a means of propulsion for the self, provided that I have a place for them to shoot out of. The caveat being that if I give myself too much speed I will splatter against the wall and that will be very bad for my well-being.

_During his trial runs with the wind-as-acceleration spell he ran into a wall and had to be rushed into the infirmary by an observing Maribelle._

That wasn't fun.

Thunder on the other hand…

Is not real electricity. It doesn't arc, it doesn't hit the…what, closest position of negative charge like real lightning. I think, I don't remember the properties of electricity very well.

Point being I can protect against it by letting it explode against something else.

But, and this is the big one: Thunder does provide a repulsive effect with each other, assuming low enough charge.

_At high charge they blow up as if two spells hit each other. Lissa had to heal his arm up from that particular experiment. Several times._

So if I were to, say, have a barrel charged with a few thunder spells, I could conceivably accelerate an object up to insane speeds and make a rail gun before gunpowder is invented.

_He tried that. It kind of worked. The projectile accelerated by the thunder spells didn't fly forward._

_Guess where we ended up. Go on. Guess._

At this point I have a maid constantly following me the instant I leave the confines of the castle. A maid or Lissa, depending on if she's free or not.

Science is hard.

…

…

"Where, pray tell, are you going?"

I stop.

I'm halfway out of the castle.

_You could run for it._

"I'm going into town?" I answer, a little meekly.

Maribelle huffs. "If you'll wait for a moment, I shall arrange for a maid to accompany you."

At this point they expect me to end up in the hospital every day.

_You have ended up in the hospital every day._

"I'm only going to visit a blacksmith. No magic involved, I swear."

Maribelle doesn't believe me. "You've said that every day."

Damn.

…

And now I'm out in the town being followed by a dolled up maid.

This isn't doing wonders for my ability to blend in.

_You've already gained a reputation for being a little insane, given the palace's recent tendencies to suddenly explode in bright colors. The people know who you are. In fact they're already trying to stay the fuck away from the man being followed by a maid._

Wonderful.

…

"Hello!" I say once I step into the blacksmith I'm looking for.

"Ah! Sir Ash. Good timing, your order is finished." The blacksmith says. "I must admit I've never made tools like these before, especially not in this size."

The tools he's referring to is a set of four steel rods, as well as a hollow, iron cylindrical base with four holes drilled into it.

As it turns out, trying to build a rail gun with only two rods caused the projectile to fly in unreasonable directions. But that was probably because I was firing nails.

_You got some strange looks when you showed up in your firing range with a large crate of nails._

I'm pretty sure Lissa made a little money by betting that I would end up injured again back then.

Nobody's willing to bet that now, but I'm getting sidetracked.

"I could imagine; your work is as good as your reputation." I say, examining the rods. They were smooth, and had enough space for me to fill it up with something powdery. I'm a little worried that they're not going to last.

But then that's why they're made to be replaceable.

"What do you plan to do with something like this?" The smith asked.

"That's my little secret. And yours, if you would be so kind."

The smith shrugs. "As long as I get paid."

I toss him his asking rate, plus a little extra. "That'll be adequate, thanks."

He gestures to the box of rods. "Pleasure doing business with you, sir."

I pick up the box and carry it away. Oh. Damn.

"And not a word from you either." I tell (a little too rudely) to the maid.

She curtsies and I feel bad.

"If only because you'll be in danger once this blows up." I mutter.

…

…

"Oh, Ash, you're oh gods you have another box_._" Lissa says when she sees me carrying the box of rail gun parts to the courtyard. The terror in her voice is immense.

"Yep." I on the other hand sound totally happy about all of this.

She sighs. "I'll get the hospital bed ready." And totters off.

Totters?

_Ylisse has no drinking age._

Uh, anyways…

_In case you didn't register, the maid that accompanied you was swarmed by other maids who offered her their condolences. You are not a reputable person._

Science never is.

…

"What manner of self-injury are you planning to cause today?" Miriel asked lazily from her perch on the…second story balcony. She likes high places to read from, apparently.

"If everything goes well, no injury to my own person." I say quite proudly.

…

Ok, so…first, each rail will have to be filled with spirit water.

_Spirit water._

Spirit dust mixed with water. Spirit dust is weird, it's doesn't mix with water but it causes the water to glow blue, and when the water evaporates—which happens disturbingly fast when spirit dust is involved—the dust isn't dry at all.

The dust is also heavy as hell. One bottle half the size of a 12 ounce soda can is like twenty pounds.

This stuff makes no fucking sense.

…

Welp. Fuck.

_Yeah._

…

"Did something happen?" Miriel asks when she noticed that I had stopped moving.

"Just…realized that I had forgotten a factor." I sigh.

This gun is going to be pretty heavy.

Good thing I've been doing nothing but physical labor (kind of, sort of) for the entire time that I've been here.

…

Anyways, fill the four rods with spirit water…

…

Wait for it to dry…

…

…

Now place in the casting paper...

I found out that a single sheet of paper with a spell circle can cast spells when mixed with spirit dust. It still needs to be activated by the caster, but this way I could…

I could make mines from this. Nifty. I'll save that for later.

…

Screw them in…c'mon fit goddammit

FIT I SAY

THE GOD OF FURNITURE COMPELS YOU

_God of Furniture...Ikea?_

There we go. Whew.

…

Load in the nails…or, rather, a nail.

…

Test the weight…

Nope. Way too heavy for me to aim with one arm. It's about four feet long, from rail to base, and the weight distribution means I need to double hand it if I want to aim it.

Wonderful.

"That is the most incomprehensible tool I've ever seen." Miriel said with a note of laughter in her voice.

"Yeah, well…if it works, I can care less how it looks. Function over form and all that." I say, putting it down and setting up a targeting dummy against the outer wall.

This thing will definitely not have the penetration power of the stereotypical sci-fi rail gun. But it's definitely going to hit harder than a bow.

Ok. Grab weapon handle…I can't hold the rail portion of the gun. This was poorly designed.

_You designed it._

So let's…rest my trigger hand on my other elbow, like the XCOM snipers.

Focus…

Activate the rods…

_The four rods are now glowing faintly and crackling with electricity, psuedo-electricity, whatever._

Feed a nail into the chamber (the hollow iron base that uses more spell power to hover the nail away from the walls)

And…pull trigger!

_FVOOM_

…

O…kay. Wow. Uh…I'm now a…

Wow.

I uh…

I may be doing something dramatically evil here.

Like, immensely, irrevocably evil. Holy shit.

Is this what the inventor of the machine gun felt?

Uh…

…

"Is…is that...?" Miriel breathed, looking at the wooden post the test dummy was tied to.

Or rather, the stump of it. The dummy itself is pinned to the wall by a nail, and judging by the amount of straw that fell out of the dummy's back, its backside is entirely broken.

If…if that's what's going to happen to a human, I'm…uh…I may want to drop the power some just so I'm not committing a war crime with every shot.

Yeah…yeah. I think I'll do that. I can't control the power of the rods without physically removing the spell paper and replacing another one, so…yeah. I really should do that.

"It's…a lot more effective than I had anticipated." I finally say, still staring at the dummy.

…

I should take a moment and reconsider this decision.

…

…

…

_What is there to reconsider? We want a game-changing advantage against Plegia, Valm, Grima, everything evil, and here it is in the form of the prototype rail gun._

Well, yeah, but odds are 99 percent of its victims is going to be the hapless soldier drafted to fight for Plegia.

_Coupled with hatred for Ylisse, don't forget that._

I haven't; their hatred is just another form of Patriotism. Their love for their country, their hatred for the injustice brought upon their heads just because of a difference in religion, all of it is still patriotism, even if they're on the opposite side.

_Their religion revolves around an evil fuckoff dragon._

The Grimleal revolves around an evil fuckoff dragon.

Either way, I'm dropping the power output.

_Having the ability to end a battle faster than it started is an invaluable asset._

We might end a battle but we're going to lengthen the war.

_Look, just put in two spell papers with half power, that way you'll have a trump card for the morale damage. If you can kill the enemy leader with such finality that the enemy will fear you, then naturally they'll be less likely to fight._

Not quite sure about them being less likely to fight, but fine.

…

…

I hear the door to my room-slash-workshop creak.

"Ash, what is that thing?" I hear Lissa ask as I tune my new rail gun. I need a name for it.

_Sasha?_

It doesn't have enough dakka to be worthy of that name.

"This? This is my weapon." I say, patting the gun base.

_You also said that with the barest hint of the Heavy voice._

I'm trying to push the serious amounts of death that I will be dealing out of my head.

_You're in a pseudo medieval age. People fight by hacking each other to pieces. You're going to be pretty damn civilized, all things considered._

There's no skill in pulling a trigger.

_There is skill in building the damned gun from scratch. You wanted to walk down this road. Own up to it._

"Are you ok? You look a bit pale." Lissa asked, staring at me.

"Yeah, I'm…fine. Just fine." I say.

I don't think she believes me.

Hell, **I **don't believe me.

"Are you worried about something?" Lissa asks, sitting down on my bed.

I sigh. "I'm worried that I'm walking down a path I can't come back from." I stare at the gun.

A future where Ylisse become the aggressors due to their superior military technology.

_You give yourself way too much credit._

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Lissa grumbles.

"It…nevermind." Especially worrying is if this gets reverse engineered.

_How? It took you needing prior knowledge and extensive field testing according to a form of methodology that the world hasn't even seen yet; the closest person who can possibly reverse engineer this is Miriel, and she's on your side._

"Well, if you're the one behind it, then it should be ok, right?"

…What?

I look at Lissa, and she smiles at me.

"Chrom says he trust your judgment, even if he doesn't agree with it." She giggles. "And I trust you, too. I know you'll never do anything to hurt us."

Lissa…

I am going to end up proving you so wrong in the future, I can just feel it.

For now though, I smile. She is really good at cheering people up.

_Responsibility is tempered, not granted. We have the power…_

So we must train to use it responsibly. Yeah.

…

…

[The next day]

…

…

I find Sumia rushing about with her armor, collecting Pegasus Knights.

With her flashy, in-game sprite armor, instead of the leather armor she had before.

"Sumia, what's the rush?" I ask her after she had stopped to catch her breath.

"Bandit attack. One of the major towns is being sieged by bandits; Chrom wants us to go help."

As if on cue, Chrom walks out from one of the side rooms.

"Ash, I assume Sumia told you the situation?" Chrom fiddles with the Falchion slung at his waist.

"Bandits hitting town, need rapid response. How far away are they?"

"About two days from here." Robin said, looking at a notebook. "At flying speed."

"How are bandits sieging though? No, why are bandits sieging?" Maribelle asked; she volunteered as a healer for the group, her reasoning being that healing on Pegasusback isn't much different from on horseback.

I think she's speaking from experience, which scares me a little.

"We don't know either. The village sent a messenger a before they were enclosed. Regardless, the shepherds are riding to their aid." Chrom declared.

I nod. "I'm going too." Per Fredrick's suggestion the rail gun is constantly slung on my back so I can get used to its weight during the inevitable military marches.

I've also entertained the concept of calling it the Balmung, for its eventual duty as an anti-dragon weapon.

"Are you sure?" Chrom frowns. I've spent almost every afternoon in the hospital so far, except the past two days.

"Yeah, I'm good to go." I say. "Well, almost. I need ammo. Be right back."

…

I rush back to my room to stock up on nails.

_Industrial grade tools for an industrial grade war._

No kidding.

…

Soon enough, the Pegasus riders were ready and we were off!

Of the eight Pegasus riders in this expedition, Sumia's the only one I recognize.

And apart from me, Robin, and Chrom, the rest of the Shepherds in attendance are: Vaike, Miriel, Virion, Ricken, and Kellam.

…

Wait, Kellam?

KELLAM?!

He doesn't have the oversized armor. He's dressed like a light soldier.

Oh my god what if I've ignored Kellam since I've gotten here holy shit

…

Ok, freakout done.

No, not quite.

…

Ok, done for real this time.

…

First day ends, we camp.

Chrom worries that the town can't hold out long enough.

Robin worries that we would be too tired if we rush at full speed toward the town.

I worry because I don't see Kellam anymore.

Like, he has physically phased out of existence.

"Ricken, do you see Kellam anywhere?" I ask him because I am genuinely terrified.

"Huh? He came with us?" Ricken…is of no help.

…then again I'm not sure why Kellam is terrifying.

"Wait, did Kellam really come with us?" Ricken started asking the general public.

Kellam then speaks up. "I did, Ricken; did you need something?" He's standing right behind Ricken, right next to me.

Ricken seems to have swallowed the scream he had cued up. "Not really. Ash was asking for you though."

"Yeah, hi. Were you with us all this time?" I ask him.

"Well, yes." He scratches his head. "I was surprised you didn't notice me, actually, what with all that magic you used. I volunteered to look after you but nobody heard me, too."

So I've been stalked by a man for the past three weeks and didn't notice.

_Correction, you've been watched by Kellam for the past three weeks._

I'm gonna…go scream at something now. Be right back.

…

…

…

So, as it turns out, Kellam is visible as long as you have him in your field of vision. Once he's gone you have to spend minutes to reacquire him.

If I end up shooting him in the back I swear to god it will not be my fault.

_You told him to not stand in front of you last night. It'll be fine._

…

We arrive near the town and oh shit I forgot to make a scope for the gun.

God dammit.

Oh well.

We arrive at the town edge and…there's a disturbing lack of smoke and fire and signs of pillaging.

_Don't see a sentence like that every day._

"Robin." I'm worried that this is a trap.

"Yeah." Robin's eyes are focused.

"Even if it is a trap, we must ride to the aid of any citizens of Ylisse." Chrom said. So he came to the same conclusion.

Chrom is an attacker but he isn't stupid. Ok.

_Or maybe he's insane, since he just told us to charge into a trap._

I really wish I made a sight for this thing.

Good thing I brought a spell book and some knives as backup.

…

"Ash, what would you be now?" Robin asks me as we advance closer to the town.

What would I be? She waves to the large thing on my back. Ah.

"A mage-like unit, I suppose." I say after a moment. "I can melee but I would rather like to stay at range."

"Got it." Robin nods, her brain probably going a mile an hour. "I wish we brought more melee power then." She sighs and then turns around to face the town.

I point to the dismounted Pegasus knights, every last one of them quite cute and not dangerous looking, factoring out their spears. "And they don't count?"

"Not really." Robin says without turning around.

"Why aren't they mounted anyways?" I ask her.

"Siege warfare. Lots of missiles. Bad for flying." Robin says quickly.

"Ok."

…

Yeah, the insane lack of combat in the town is definitely suspicious…

Focus spell power, prepare wind shield.

I got Miriel to teach it to me and then modified it to spin more for more projectile blockage.

…

"Incoming!" Robin yells a split second before the sky suddenly darkens.

Holy shit they want us killed.

Release spell power!

Miriel came to same conclusion, and the two of us blew enough arrows to FUCK ow that hurt

Cover most of everyone.

"This is definitely a trap. We need to do some more scouting." I say to Robin.

Ignore the damned arrow in my shoulder. Ugh this shit hurts.

"Sir! Behind us!" One of the Pegasus knights yell while a second barrage fly at us from the walls.

Fuck it. Gun time. Bring out rifle, hope that Miriel can cover all of us alone…

_She isn't alone; Ricken is picking up your share._

Behind us is Cavaliers. Four of them. My magazine size is three rounds. Fine by me.

"Back, back!" Chrom shouts, and we scramble away from the town while the cavaliers bear down on us.

_Credit to the enemy archers: they waited until we were close enough for several volleys before opening fire._

…

Ok, they should be close enough. Ignore the searing pain in my shoulder…

I should be able to hit them from here.

Aim!

"Ash! What are you doing?!" Chrom demands, watching me suddenly plant my feet down and look down the barrel of this freakish thing.

No time to reply.

Focus spell power…

And…

Fire!

_FVOOM_

…

First shot, miss!

The nail moves around too much in the chamber. Fuck.

The force of the nail flying by slowed the horse down a little though. So I guess that's good. Probably.

The pain is not making it any better.

_Here's some adrenaline and endorphins to make it better._

…

Second shot.

"ASH!" Robin is half desperate and angry, especially since I'm disobeying orders.

It's not like we can run away anyway.

Ricken is being a total boss by shielding me with his wind spells, since I'm still barely in range of the archers on the walls.

Ok…

Focus…

And…

Fire!

_FVOOM~ I'm gonna do this every time you shoot because your gun makes like no noise~_

Yeah! Clean hit.

The man was knocked flying from his horse. Literally flying from his horse.

Even at half power this shit is…oh I wasn't actually at half power was I. GOD DAMMIT

Nothing's going right.

…

Because one of their members suddenly flew off their horse, the other three slowed their charging long enough for Virion to pick them off with his insanely good aim.

For the record, I killed my guy instantly while Virion's targets fell off the horse, but are probably alive.

Either way the charge threat is gone.

"Let's go." I tap Ricken on the shoulder. He nods.

And we run the fuck away because FUCK arrow rain.

_There was like a thousand arrows near Ricken's feet. The little guy's pretty good with wind._

…

"Well, that was different." Vaike says dryly while being healed by Maribelle.

"Yeah. I knew it was too odd to be anything but a trap." Robin seethed.

Two knights are dead and the rest of us all had arrow wounds. Miriel in particular came uncomfortably close to being killed due to the sheer volume of arrows she had to fend off.

"What's done is done." Chrom sighed; the man doesn't like seeing his people die. Then again, none of us do. "What should we do next, Robin?"

"We're taking that town." She says almost instantly. "They're obviously not on our side, and letting them roam free is going to cause nothing but trouble for the rest of Ylisse."

That's…a little bit of a stretch, Robin, but I agree in concept.

"Ash. How far does that weapon of yours reach?" She asked me.

"Longer than my vision." I say, tapping my glasses.

_Active mind forgot to mention: He got a pair of glasses that gave him pretty good vision during the three week time skip._

"And it operates by magic so Virion can't use it." She mutters, scribbling furiously in her notebook again.

"Should we call for reinforcements?" Kellam asked. He seemed to be…actually, not fine at all. He was probably covering for the lady knights despite the fact that we can't see him.

"They won't make it in time." Chrom said, staring at the town in the distance.

…

But…

If they're bandits, then why do they have so much fire power? If one man can shoot an arrow in a volley then they should have a hundred archers, easy.

I doubt all of them would be archers, so there would be melee troops inside the town, too.

"Are there any bandit groups large enough in Ylisse to qualify as an army?" I ask out loud.

"Not that I…know…of…" Robin says, trailing off.

_Whirrr click._

Fucking. Plegia.

"Plegia is trying to start a war." Robin breathed. "With us as the aggressors. Those…" She finished her sentence with an incomprehensible and stifled scream of rage.

"And they're going to sacrifice a few hundred of their own men to do it." Virion sounds amazingly angry.

Also, good to know that we're on the same page.

"We need to stop them right here, right now." Robin declares, probably drawing battle plans in her head.

"And we need to do it before night falls." I say, looking up at the sky. That gives us…maybe two hours until sunset, probably more than that. Hopefully more than that.

Robin nods. "Once night falls they will ride out and attack us, or we'll lose them in the night entirely. Let me think." She then wanders a little ways off with her notebook, muttering to herself.

In the meantime…

Maribelle plucks the arrow HOLYFUCKTHATHURTS shoulders. She plucks the arrow from my shoulder. And then heals the wound with her staff.

It's still a little sore, but at least it's ok now.

Reload the gun. And I need to remember to recalibrate it more and then give it a scope.

Which means I need to find a glassmaker. Wonderful.

Oh well. Focus on the task at hand.

…

Robin came back in a short hurry.

"Ash, how's your aiming on horseback?" She asked me worriedly.

I can barely aim with my feet planted. And I tell her as such.

She nods. "Ok, that's better than I expected."

…Really? She had so little faith?

"Ok, here's the plan."

…

…

…

Robin is insane and a genius.

Ricken and Miriel have taken to the air with their wind spells.

Once they've reached a decent height (based on Robin's judgment)…

She took a deep breath, and fired a puff of…well, fire. Into the air.

The Pegasi dove towards the town, and once they've reached what they think is arrow range, the Pegasi pulled back to hover in place, flapping their wings furiously toward the walls.

The wind their wings create then gets a boost from the two spellcasters, and the end result is…a lot of arrows flying in every direction but the right one.

A second puff of fire.

Virion and I are flown in.

I have my rail gun, and Virion has his bow and like five quivers of arrows.

Aided by the wind, Virion just fires arrows at an ungodly rate into the wall's guards: people dressed like Ylissean militia. The arrows fly fast and not very accurately, but the end result is the same; the wall guards are diving for cover.

Good to know that they're not the…

Wait. They might not even be Plegians at all, given by how poor their morale is.

"Sir! That one!" The knight I ride with yell and point to a man who seems to be giving orders.

Ok.

Gun comes out. Focus spell power…

Tighten my legs because I don't want to fall off…

"Dive!" I order. And she dives at him.

Robin determined that this was the only way I could hit a target.

If the Pegasus was flying smoothly at the ground in a worryingly fast fashion.

I will be spiking her food later for this.

For now…

Focus…Aim…and….

_FVOOM_

WHOA GEEZ I almost fell off. Even with the tiny recoil.

We whiz by the man, and I see…

The man's head and body disconnected by the force of the nail that drove the body into the ground.

I really need to reduce the power, later.

Or increase it. I'm not sure anymore.

Oh well. Debate later, action now. Chamber round two.

The knight goes back into a holding pattern, circling above the town while being protected by Miriel and Ricken.

This is Robin's plan: In the event that the soldiers were not actually Plegian (which was a qualifier she probably considered but didn't voice) we were to nullify their ability to fight and take out all of their military heads. The rest MAY drop their weapons as a result.

Either way, the soldiers who saw their captain get dismembered by an unknown power are certainly cowed enough to run away and not shoot.

Which is good for Ricken and Miriel, since they seem to be tiring from the strain of keeping up their spell constantly.

We need to hurry.

"Where's the second one?" I ask my knight.

_Your knight._

Note to self: Ask the brave lady her name after this battle is over. She has some (proverbial) huge brass balls for diving into a hornets nest just so I can get a clear shot.

"There." She points to the second guy, who seemed to be trying to whip the runners back into formation.

"Go."

…

_FVOOM_

I only got him on the shoulder. But I got the whole "let's not use both spell sheets" thing working.

Which meant the resulting force of the hit spun his body like an ice skater on caffeine mixed with steroids before he lost his balance and was spun into a wall and shattered his head into said wall.

I think if I hooked him up to an electrical generator he would power a town for a day.

No mercy there. Load third round.

…

What's that feeling…?

_Horror movie?_

Yeah.

"Dive! Now!"

The knight didn't question my order and dove a little.

A wave of purple…flame…thing flew over our head.

That must be Flux, or something similar.

Look around. Who…

The asshole wearing the large ominous robe at the town square. Of course.

Oh he's actually still shooting at us.

"Drop me into the town!" I order.

_What are you doing?_

Being stupid.

The lady seems to agree, but given that the man's focused on us and not Ricken and Miriel yet we don't have much of an option. Need to kill him before he kills all eight of us.

She agrees that I'm insane and stupid, not to my plan.

But we're being shot at, so she can either go back and leave the other four in danger, or…watch Chrom and Vaike (and Kellam) charge in to their death.

We dove.

And landed among the rooftops…

Shit.

I pull her roughly off her Pegasus.

And her Pegasus is hit square in the chest with a flux.

Despite it having the appearance of fire flux doesn't burn; the Pegasus is just twitching in pain before it falls over dead.

Fine. I can see your shitty mage robes. Focus…

_FVOOM_

…

I missed. I knew it. I don't know if I can avoid getting hit by a spell if I stay still to reload and snipe…

Ok, plan B. I drop the gun and pull out a dagger.

Even though I missed his ass he's still staggering from the force. Charge!

_It's a good thing these roofs are solid or this would backfire really fast, really quickly._

Distance…closer…closer…

A Street. Fine. Jump down, roll. Get back on my feet.

_Just like practice._

Continue running. He's got his footing back.

Start zigzagging.

He raises his hand, probably to spell me to little pieces…

And a spear flies at him, forcing him to dodge.

Must've been the lady knight. Naga bless her soul for putting up with me.

Also her throwing arm is insane. I don't think this distance counts as two squares.

He got his footing back obscenely quickly though.

Fine.

Focus spell power.

Fly! My dagger of…stabbiness!

Judging by how his body moved that was definitely a hit.

Charge forward faster!

Nevermind how tired I am, nevermind anything. The man is dying.

I have my second (and last) dagger.

Time to channel a little Assassin's Creed.

…

The first knife didn't go deep enough, man's still standing. Shit.

_He's casting._

If I dodge now I lose momentum. Fuck it.

RUN FASTER!

_Oh god we're gonna die._

His hand goes up…that is black fire…

Flying at my face. Ok.

GUH

It's worse than Miriel described.

Flux literally hits as many of your nerves as it can and convinces them that you are in fact burning to death while being cut to little pieces.

_Focus!_

I have but one desire in life.

"And that is to see this knife buried in your face!"

_You yelled that out?_

I'M SORRY I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING OVER THE SOUND OF MY NERVES SCREAMING

_Target: really damn close. He's also a little cowed at how a man cloaked in black flames is running at full speed towards him while yelling obscenities at the top of his lungs. Well, "an" obscenity._

SERVES HIS ASS RIGHT

JUMP

PIN his ass down.

Me plus my armor plus my knee in your chest means you're not going anywhere, asshat.

"Ha! What can an Outrealmer do to the likes of the Grimleal?!" The man snarls.

…Isn't that like the most common psyche out tactic used in every story ever? But then again…

It's not like my status as an Outrealmer is exactly classified information.

"Guess how many fucks I give." I snarl back, and bring my dagger down.

…

…

Whoa, what the hell was that?

…

…

The wind spells seemed to have stopped…

What's going on? Something black and evil looking just flew from the dead guy.

I'm gonna leave my dagger in his throat just in case.

Er…I think I'm gonna wiggle the dagger some. Just in case.

_Paranoid much?_

…

So what happened?

Before that, what happened to the lady knight?

And I need to re-find my gun.

…

"Hey! You ok over there?" I ask her.

I sound a little…ok, a lot shaky. That flux must've hit a lot harder than I thought, now that my adrenaline isn't coping with it.

"I'm alright, sir." The lady knight said, still from her rooftop.

Ok, so…how do I get up there?

"Hold on, I'm coming down." She said with a grunt. "This thing is oddly heavy."

"It's filled with spirit dust, yeah." I take some deep breaths to try and sound un-shaky. Doesn't work out all that well. "You can just toss it down here; I'll do mainte-whoa!"

She jumps down and lands like a…what would she be? A cat? She lands with a soft grunt, but she seems to be fine.

"Here." She unslings the rail gun and hands it over, which I take…and nearly drop on the ground.

I…am actually shaking a lot. Apparently flux hits deep.

"Are you…" She asks, before coming to the conclusion that I am definitely not ok.

Especially since I seem to be having trouble standing.

Ok…gonna be passing out now.

…

…

…

I hear…voices.

Uh…focus? Focus.

Try to focus.

"Chrom! Chrom! He's awake!" I hear someone yell. Apparently something in my brain broke since I don't know what kind of voice that was.

"How long was I out?" I ask. I sound raspy.

"Four days." I hear the same person respond. (Probably the same person)

The last time I ever passed out it was for like, five seconds.

"Seriously? What happened while I was out?" I sound like I need water.

"Get Maribelle." Thank you mystery person. My eyes also don't seem to be working. "The knight you were with brought you to the front gate in a hurry after you had passed out; she said you had dark magic damage. Maribelle stabilized you and you've been resting ever since."

…All of my five senses don't seem to be working.

_And yet you can hear._

…Yeah, that was poorly phrased. Four point five of my senses aren't working.

"What happened after the battle?"

"Well, uh…after the enemy mage was destroyed, all the soldiers died."

…

What?

"Any ideas on how it happened?"

I can't tell what the tone of the voice is but she (let's face it, it probably is a she) is probably angry.

"It was some odd variant of a dark magic spell. The spell seems to be designed specifically with the purpose of killing people for no strategic gain." I hear a sign. "I've never _seen _magic like this."

So that weird dark thing escaping was the dark magic?

_Would it qualify as a bomb of some kind?_

Hmm…

"Ah! Maribelle. He's up, can you…?"

"Just a second." I hear a voice belonging to probably Maribelle.

And then…nothing.

And then…

Something.

I can feel again.

I feel…warm.

And a little squeezed.

And…uh, slightly red in the face.

Hearing is returning to normal…

I can hear Maribelle softly chanting very, very close to my ear.

…

Touch returning to normal…

I can feel something really really soft really really close.

I feel really really awkward.

Also lucky.

But mostly awkward.

…

Smell returning to normal…

Maribelle wears perfume, but thankfully not overwhelmingly so.

…

Vision returning to normal…

…

Yeah, she's giving me a hug.

I'm confused as to why but I sure as hell am not complaining.

…

I'm going to assume taste is also back to normal, since my mouth tastes dry as all hell right now.

"There, that should do it." Maribelle sighs. "I say, you're nothing but trouble, you know that?" She says, while letting me lay back down.

"Sorry. What was that all about?" I can't help but ask.

She stares straight into my eyes, as if daring me to think about anything suggestive. "For some reason restore staves didn't work on you at all. So we had to resort to the oldest cleric trick in the book."

"Physical touching?"

She nods. "Direct transfer of magic." She taps the staff she's holding and…pops the head off. She then swaps on a different head from a pouch at her waist.

Is that how staves work? Exchangeable heads? I remember Fredrick covering this at some point.

"It seems to have worked. How do you feel?" Robin asked, walking back into the room with a small smile on her lips.

Maribelle huffs. "He should be perfectly fine in a few moments, the fool." And then she struts out of the room.

Robin grins. "Oh I can't wait to spin this one."

I shake my head. "She would undo all that healing, so please don't."

Robin fakes disappointment. "Aww. Oh well, how are you feeling?"

"A lot better." Streeetch. Wow, I feel really damn stiff. "So…what do you think happened to the town?"

Robin scowls. "Best guess? Whoever that mage was showed up and turned the entire town into some kind of demented trap, probably to force a horrid decision from Emmeryn."

Hmm…

"She does nothing and Ylisse is the 'attacker', or she does something and kills off a town to kill one mage." Ugh. "We seemed to have done the latter."

"Yeah, but we have a corpse to show for it." Robin smirked. "All thanks to what is likely your idiocy."

I sigh. "Don't remind me." I get up, and sit back down again because whoa dizzy room is spinning.

"Sit tight, I'll get you something to eat."

"Where am I, anyways?"

"The town hall." In the town we decimated, got it. Robin disappears out of the room and I lie back down.

…

What does this mean?

_This means Plegia has someone who's also stirring things up._

Not necessarily. Reality isn't dictated by memory limitations, so it could've just been Plegia advancing along the path of technology.

_And Ylisse won't?_

Not…government sponsored research. Not war time use technology anyways. She's too…patient, for that.

So there's a very realistic chance of Ylisse being outpaced on the home front before the war begins…

Shit, it's also close to the end of the month.

…

Robin came back with some bread and soup.

I'm hungry as hell so it is delicious.

_Slow down or you will gag._

I gag on air, c'mon.

…

"Wow, you have a lot of control for a hungry person." Robin said, surprised. "I was expecting more wolfing down."

"Oh believe me, I want to." I say between bites.

…

"How's Plegia on the war front?" I think I can stand properly now; I feel the strength born of wheat and…vegetables!

"They haven't made a move, but considering what we've seen they might not have to." Robin scowls. "They might have other ploys hidden in Ylisse, after all."

"Yeah. Hmm…" I…hobble, out of the room. Muscles not really atrophying but fairly non-responsive, but we're good.

"What?" She asks, following me outside.

Lordy it's bright.

…

It seems like the rapid response corps was deployed here…and their first order of business is to dig a lot of graves.

Not pleasant, but I guess it would give them a good shock on exactly what they're signing up for.

So where's the asshole mage?

Ah ha.

"Can we confiscate his robes as evidence?" I ask, tapping the corpse with my foot.

"Evidence?" Miriel asks.

"As proof that Plegia was trying to do something bad." Not that it would matter, since of the three countries in the continent Plegia is the only country that cares about Plegia's reputation.

_And yet they tried a terrorist attack._

Yeah, so I guess not even Plegia cares about Plegia's reputation.

"I can't imagine them caring one way or another." Maribelle remarked, overseeing the burial preparations.

"Yeah, well, I had high hopes." I sigh.

…

Maribelle sudden shrieks in surprise, and we turn to see…

…all the corpses vaporizing.

In the similar purple puff that the Risen dies in.

…The implications behind this are disturbing, but at least they left their worldly belongings behind.

_Is that a good thing?_

"What…" Robin was the first person to find her voice.

The cavaliers were too stunned to be annoyed at having done unnecessary work.

…

I get to have my spent ammo back.

…

Or not, since it crumbled in my hand.

Is this why they have so much power? Because they nearly shatter on impact?

Yikes.

_You seem to be trying to ignore something._

Plegia…Plegia could be killing people to resurrect them as Risen. I…I don't know how or why they want to do that.

"We…we should get back to the castle." I say, before taking a breath and repeating myself with a lot more conviction.

Chrom seems to shake himself out of whatever his thoughts were. "Yes, you're right. Plegia could be planning something else here. Let's hurry."

…

…

"Ash! You're…what's wrong?" Nino asks me the instant I set foot into the castle.

The fact that she just appeared out of nowhere and was accepted as a guest in the castle got her some bad attention, but Nino is just unabashedly nice, so she's well liked enough to be accepted in a few social circles.

I wave absentmindedly at her and shake my head. The previous two nights had more Risen appearance than normal and it put all of us on edge.

I also bought a telescope meant for sailors that'll act as a sight until I get something better.

…

Let's just…do some more training.

And calibrating with this new scope.

…

…

…

"Yo." I look and see Vaike tap me on the shoulder.

It's been another week, and Plegia has been oddly silent.

This only affirms Robin's suspicions that Plegia has something planned, but she can't act on it since it would be rooting out each and every settlement for Grimleal members.

The previous king started his crusade against the Grimleal in much the same way: a religious purge in Ylisstol.

"Hey Vaike." Goes without saying the week of odd silence has put all of us on edge.

"I heard on the grapevine you might get an office in the castle soon." He grinned. "Hope you like paperwork!"

I smile slightly, because I heard the same rumors.

The sitting nobility are hell bent on not letting that happen: class warfare and all that.

In the meantime, I put in an order for a scope with a telescope manufacturer in the city (hellishly expensive, it was) and I got a belt to hold my ammo boxes. So now I can carry more nails, but I can still only load three of them.

I also made a wind-based nail launcher that attaches to my left wrist, so I now have short ranged death without needing to worry about throwing knives.

They work better than my rail gun despite the lack of firepower.

…

As long as I keep busy I can stop driving myself into a mental corner with thinking of all the possible bad things that could happen due to Plegia's odd inaction.

"Oy, you listenin'?" Vaike demands. I've ignored him the entire time he was talking.

"Sorry. Got a lot on my mind." I shake my head. I know that thinking too hard won't help, but still.

"You too? Sheesh, all of you walk around like the sky's gonna fall on your head." He shakes his head. "What's the use worrying about something that hasn't happened yet?"

We worry because it hasn't happened yet, Vaike.

"Y'know what, let's get you set up on a date."

…wait.

"What?" That came out of nowhere.

Vaike grins. "Maribelle wants to visit her family but Lissa of all people don't want her walking around without a guard. Guess who Robin suggested?"

…

Robin, I swear to god I will murder you in your sleep.

…

…

"So Robin's suggestion was taken after all." Maribelle sighs when she sees me walking towards her.

I came to the realization that her abduction might come very soon, so I figured…what better way to stop the abduction than by being there and killing every asshole that shows up?

Given that everything works out like I expect, which is, uh, pretty naïve of me to think so, actually.

"You're oddly well-armed for a family visit." Maribelle says, after noting the fact that I'm carrying my rail gun, a sword, two knives, and two spare packs of nails.

I have enough ammo to kill like a hundred people before needing to move close range.

Also to set up like ten tents.

…

Also she said something about a family visit.

…

Suddenly the Plegians don't seem to be so terrifying after all.

"What are you waiting for? Let us be off." Maribelle huffs.

I…uh…

ROBIN.

I SEE YOU GIGGLING OVER THERE

WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?!

_You spiked her food._

Well, ok, fine, but WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?!

_Sigh._

…

"I don't see why I need a guard for this." Maribelle grumbled.

"Lissa cares about you?" I venture.

"That much is obvious, but I don't see why they would've sent **you** along." She says, throwing me an uncharacteristically dirty look.

"Maybe Ricken would've been a better choice?" I say lightly.

She turns a little. "Why him?"

Oh right. She doesn't feel for him until after the rescue.

"He's another noble, right?"

"A discredited one. He's a nice enough boy, but…" She trails off. She then launches into a speech about the proper behavior of a noble and the expectations of the aristocracy.

_I take it you listened to none of it._

Not a single word.

…

Eventually Maribelle figured out that I wasn't listening and wouldn't speak to me for the rest of the day.

…

[Night]

…

I think it says a lot about the state of the world when the glowing eyes of doom show up and we don't even bat an eyelash.

Also, she gets the tent and I get to sleep outside.

Given how ridiculously pleasant Ylisse is at night I'm not complaining.

As long as the Risen don't show up.

I wish we stopped at an inn instead, but the nearest one burned down.

The undead are all arsonists.

…

[A week later]

Her family's mansion is…sizeable but not overly amazing.

_Like her?_

That would be rudest thing to say out loud. Also it makes no sense.

"We're here." She says with a tired sigh. "If only you weren't here, I could've gotten home faster."

…

No servants?

_Aren't we a bit spoiled by having maids around every corner?_

Well, I guess, but she would've sent word along that she was coming home, right?

"Was this a surprise trip?" I ask her as I lead both horses to the stable.

"No. Why do you ask?" She sounds surprised at my question.

"Just wondering." I shrug, and she shakes her head.

"Regardless." She knocks on the door.

…I'm getting some really weird vibes here.

_It's just your paranoia acting up again._

…

Soon enough, a butler opens the door for her.

"Lady Maribelle, welcome home. I apologize for my lateness." The butler said with a deep bow.

"It's quite alright. Come, Ash." She says with a regal toss of her hair.

"I'm afraid your weapons will need to be left here, sir." The butler gently, but firmly.

"Yeah, sure." I untie my sword and daggers and place them on the table.

He eyes the rail gun on my back.

But since he doesn't know what it is it doesn't count as a weapon.

_To be fair you can't really snipe indoors._

True.

…

"Mother, father, I'm home." Maribelle says with a wide smile and goes in for a hug.

A hug that her parents happily give her.

"And he is…" Her mother says with a glint in her eyes.

Oh. Oh no. Oh hell no.

"I am her guard for the trip." I say with a bow.

I am not going down that route. Ever.

"Ah, I see." She says, a little dejected. "Thank you for your services."

Maribelle sighs slightly. "Mother, you weren't hoping that this man is somehow my fiancé, were you?"

I am not dressed for the part, for the record. I'm wearing a fresh suit of armor with certain areas (namely, where the rail gun straps cut into my shoulders) reinforced by iron.

Also, she skipped the boyfriend/girlfriend phase.

_We do not cut a very dashing or noble image. And remember that marriage for love among the nobility wasn't exactly the most common thing back in the day._

"No, of course not." Her mother says with an air of nonchalance.

...

And then the three of them gets to play catch up while I get shooed out of the room.

…

The mansion is pretty sparse. It looks and feels like a rich person's house, but in a way that suggests that the family in it isn't exactly very well off.

I wonder if that makes them landowners around here.

_Traditional medieval nobles tend to be landowners, since traders weren't exactly held in high regard._

Yeah. Not sure if that pattern is in play in Fire Emblem though.

"I trust the trip was without danger, sir Ash?" The butler asked, watching me wander around the house.

"Apart from the occasional Risen, nothing of notice." I say.

_Undead Vapor Zombies are now "nothing of notice."_

I know, right? Humans are weird.

The butler chuckles. "I see; you seem to be quite skilled as a fighter. Lady Maribelle can be a little difficult to get along with, but I hope you will continue to favor her with your friendship."

I laugh. "A little? She's really difficult to get along with. I don't know what she's thinking half the time."

"She allowed you to accompany her on this trip; I assume you were given the job per suggestion from Lady Lissa?"

They're good friends. I almost forgot. "Yes, I did."

"Then she has at least decided to tolerate you." The butler laughs, accompanied by some of the maids around them. "That, for her, is a large step forward."

I'll say.

…

_Stop beating around the bush?_

Yeah.

"I have a question for you."

"Go ahead, sir Ash."

"Who are the people sneaking around the house?"

The butler froze for a fraction of a second. "You are aware that Emmeryn doesn't have total popularity among the nobility, correct?"

I nod, trying to look casual. "I had assumed as much, yes."

There were a lot of nobles whispering around the castle nowadays. Given that they weren't there before it didn't take a genius to guess what made them speak out all of a sudden.

"Maribelle's parents are one such family, and they do not approve of her…position, in the Shepherds."

He turns his head and looks at me. "Protect them. I beg of you. Protect them from this idiotic decision of theirs."

…

_Shit._

...

I dash to the door to grab my sword moments before I hear glass shatter and doors being kicked in.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

_Go upstairs, go go go!_

"Ash! What is this infernal racket" Maribelle manages to say before…

Someone in plain, villager clothing jumps through the window.

These guys are smart.

Charge him.

The man raises his dagger, but my sword has longer reach and I stab him on the shoulder.

The weight on my back makes it hard to maneuver but something tells me I should hold on to my gun's status as a weird looking toy.

Two more men burst through the door.

"Drop your weapon, guardsman. You're making our jobs harder." I hear a voice behind me.

Turn my head and look.

…

From a window I didn't see, someone else jumped in and has a Maribelle in a choke hold and at knife point.

"You brute! Unhand me!" She shouts.

The man sighs and stabs her in the back with the knife, drawing blood but judging by Maribelle's expression it wasn't dangerous to her life.

"We're in charge here, bitch. I suggest you shut your mouth before we do something worse." The man says in her ear.

"Sir Ash, drop your sword." Maribelle's father says softly.

"You were behind this, weren't you." I say quietly.

He nods. "This country needs a better king. Emmeryn is far too soft."

Damn.

"Do what the man said, brat. Drop your weapon." Maribelle's handler snarls.

Can I break out of this?

How can I break out of this?

"I won't say it again. Drop. Your. Weapon." The knife goes a little deeper. Maribelle doesn't even flinch.

I guess we know why Brady is a badass.

_Let's do this._

I drop my sword.

"Good boy." The man says dryly.

My left wrist is still pointed at his face.

Focus spell power…

Fire arm nail one.

The man's head reels back as a nail suddenly finds itself implanted in his head.

I twist around. There's four, five of them behind me.

Firing arm nail two.

Now there're four alive and one crippled.

"Window! Now!" I shout at her.

Maribelle scrambles out of the window and I follow suit, using the little time window we've got from the surprise of having nails suddenly fired at them to get some distance across the rooftops.

_Reload the arm gun._

Reloading.

"Ash, how did you…" Maribelle gasps out, finally having had enough and needing to take a break.

"Your butler warned me." I say, unslinging my rail gun.

"I should thank him later." Maribelle says. She sounds like she's in a lot of pain. "Give me a moment." There was some shuffling behind me.

I point the rail gun at the mansion and look through my scope.

…

[3rd person camera time!]

…

The man that was in charge of the abduction walked up to Maribelle's frightened parents.

"So, you let her get away." He says with a snarl.

"We had no idea that the guard she had would be so…underhanded." Maribelle's father spat. "She can't have gone far. Pursue her!"

"Oh, she can't have gone far, indeed." The man laughs. "To think her own parents would use her as a bargaining chip, you Ylisseans are rotten to the core."

"Pah. She's a suitable sacrifice for Grima." The father said with a dismissing wave of his hand. "We are faithful worshippers of the true god. Any daughter of mine that isn't is of no importance."

"Ooh, how deliciously disgusting." The man grinned.

And then ran the father through with his sword.

"And how pathetic." The man growled. "To think that you would go against your own country. Plegia spits on your so-called loyalty."

He then turned to his men.

"Kill all of them."

And then died because his head exploded.

…

[Back to me!]

…

"Got him." I grin. He really shouldn't have been standing near that window. These adjustments are great.

Loading second round.

"You ok over there?" I ask her while not taking my sights off of the window, or the people that were now trying to stare out of said window to see where the shot came from. Oh the poor, poor pre-sniper era idiots.

_Technically Snipers exist._

"I will be momentarily." She said. "That asshole poisoned the knife." She added in an undertone.

I guess we know why Brady is a badass?

Also, to all of you idiots crowding near the window…

Here's a shot at maximum power, just for you!

…

Wow, that is a lot of red that just splattered out of the window.

We might not have run away far enough for them to miss us, but the ridge of the roof we're hiding behind gives me plenty of cover, especially since they don't know what to look for.

Still, how many did I get? Maybe all of them?

_You're oddly happy about this._

I'm trying not to think about it.

…

Refill magazine.

…

"I think the coast is a little bit clear." I sigh, after seeing no more movement from the house.

"Great. So what do we do next? Go back to Ylisstol?" Maribelle said, sounding a little strained; whatever that poison is it must be getting to her.

"Let's find you an antidote first. C'mon."

…

I have to admit, mingling with the crowd is now suddenly terrifying.

But leading Maribelle by the hand feels even more terrifying, especially because she's actually trembling.

"Did…what's going to happen to my parents?" She wondered.

"You do know they sold you out, right?" I'm still a little amazed by that fact, especially since I don't know why they would do it.

_I guess he wanted himself as king? Bit of a stretch, though._

"That may be, but they're still my parents." She said with finality.

I can't argue with that.

_Based on what we saw from the scope one of them, or maybe both of them, aren't alive anymore._

Better not tell her yet.

Sorry, Maribelle's father. I'm mildly glad that you were stabbed in the chest long enough for the man to push you away from the window and place himself squarely within my line of sight.

I guess we can spin that as "he died to protect her" in a weird twisty kind of way.

…

Ah ha, apothecary.

"Maribelle, how've you…who are…what's…" The man stuttered.

If she grew up here everyone would know her. Makes sense.

"She needs an antidote." I say sharply. The man blinks and grabs one without a second thought.

Maribelle takes it, mutters thanks, and downs it without a second thought.

"So he's finally gone and did it, that crazy bastard." The man says with no small hint of venom in his voice.

"What? Her father?" I ask him.

He nods. "The man's gotten more and more delusional after you left, Mari." She doesn't seem to mind, probably since he's known her since she was small. "I can't believe he would try to sell his own daughter."

It's not like they had money woes, right?

"Where they having money issues?" I ask.

His response is a single laugh. "As if; he hated Emmeryn and would've loved to see this country burn just to spite the poor girl."

So the misogynistic asshole had a daughter and hates the girl ruler. Where have I heard this one before?

"Come to think of it, for the past year or so he's been pretty vocal about a change of leadership. I guess he snapped." The man shrugs. "For what he's done to you…if he dies, good riddance."

…

"He never liked my father." Maribelle murmured. "So don't believe everything he said."

"I won't." But I'll keep it in consideration.

I agree with the good riddance part though.

…

I hear hooves.

"Get behind me." I say and unsling my…I'm just gonna call it a rifle from here on out because that's kind of what it is.

Look through the scope…

On the horse is a pointed hat, barely visible over the horse's head and flopping mane.

Ricken.

"Ricken, what are you doing here?" I demand as soon as he came to a halt.

"Plegia." Was his single answer.

…

_Once more with feeling!_

FUUUUUUU

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Let the science train roll out of the station!

For the record I'm only using topics that I myself are aware of

(This'll show up a lot later, where I conceptually know things but can't bring them into "reality" even with timeskipped research)


	8. From - Somewhere in Themis

"Ple-are they invading?" Maribelle asked.

"No, it's not that bad yet." Ricken shakes his head. "But Plegian troops were sighted crossing the border around here a few days ago; I'm here to warn your father."

…

Wait. Time out.

Maribelle's father is the lord of this county?

"Why are you two out here, anyways?" Ricken asked suddenly, and then noticed Maribelle clinging on to me (because knife stab wound)…

Wow, that betrayal in his eyes is immense.

So he likes her first, I see.

"Maribelle's house was ambushed, probably by Plegian spies." I say.

Ricken snaps back to attention. "What? Is her father ok?"

Uh…he's probably dead by now. "I don't know, but given the circumstances I don't think so."

Hmm…we're getting a few stares from the people on the street. Then again, three people (one with a pointy hat) and a horse tend to draw attention.

"Let's discuss this elsewhere." I say, motioning around me.

"I know just the place." Maribelle says with some forced lightness.

…

Maribelle led us to a rather upscale…I don't really want to call it an inn, since it seems to lack places to sleep, but…

_It's a restaurant._

…yeah, I guess, but it still has private rooms and all.

Given by the reaction of the storeowner to Maribelle showing up I guess she used to come here a lot; the two swapped like three words before the owner led us into a private room overlooking a nearby park.

"Ok, I think we're good." I say after taking a look outside the window.

Maribelle sipped her drink…when did she get a drink?

_And what did she get?_

Why is that important right now?

"What happened in the mansion?" Ricken asks.

Hmm…how do I present this?

"There were people laying an ambush for us." I say after a minute or so. "They were hidden around the house until some pre-determined signal and then they attacked the house at once."

"And nobody noticed?" Ricken is incredulous. I don't blame him.

I shoot a glance at Maribelle, who's staring at me, since I didn't bring up any of this information beforehand.

"I'm fairly certain all the servants noticed but were encouraged to ignore it." I sigh.

"What?" Ricken almost shot to his feet. "Then her parents planned it?"

"They seemed unusually calm during the whole thing." I don't have enough information to come to a serious conclusion.

Ricken seems to want to destroy the table for whatever reason. "I don't believe this. I don't think her parents would put her in danger."

"I don't believe it either." Maribelle said after a second.

"I don't want to believe it." But I did see the leader and her father have some sort of civil discussion before the leader shanked her dad, so there's really no point in arguing the case. "In any case, the house is probably still occupied by those guys."

"So we take it back from them. What's the problem?" Ricken said immediately.

What is the problem indeed…

I jerk my head towards Maribelle. "One of the assholes got her with a poisoned blade."

Ricken looked at Maribelle again.

"I'm perfectly fine now, Ricken." Maribelle said with a regal sigh.

Still sounds like she's forcing it.

_Or maybe you're just imaging it._

"I'll be perfectly fine here, if you insist on leaving me behind for your little…mission." She said. At least her tone of distain seems to be untouched.

"Uh…" Ricken looks at me.

"Given the choice, I would rather have you with us." I say.

Ricken nods happily.

"However…?" She was expecting that, wasn't she.

"However, I don't think we have that kind of choice." My story time senses are just screaming at me to not leave her alone. "And since they were after you, I also don't want to leave you alone."

"Why isn't the town militia doing anything?" Ricken asked suddenly.

I…I don't know, actually.

"Good question." I mutter.

"My father's mansion is reputed to be the safest house in the city." Maribelle said. "The town guards won't believe a word about it being attacked."

"Even from you?" I'm a bit shocked; that sounds like horribly un-guard-like behavior.

She gives me a blank look followed by a slight blush.

Oh. Interesting…

"Let me guess, you didn't have the best behavior as a child." I say with a grin.

Maribelle turns away, red in the face.

…

Still, her behavior as a kid shouldn't influence the guards' behavior today.

"Ricken, did you try to talk to the guards about Plegia?"

Ricken nods at my question. "Yeah, but the guard captain didn't believe me, even after I gave him my status."

Ricken would be a minor noble and a Shepherd, which would make his voice at least have some weight…

_I guess we should consider the guards compromised in some way._

Yeah.

"So they're going to be of no help." I sigh. "Fine; what else do we have?"

"I could take the mansion." Ricken said matter-of-factly. "My magic is pretty good, after all."

…

"I am sure, Ricken…however, we are against those who have no regards for the rules of combat." Maribelle said after we had a moment to digest what Ricken said.

"I can do it." Ricken insists.

_Is this his stubborn "I want to be an adult" trait acting up?_

Probably. I don't want to babysit him for the time being though.

"That's great, Ricken." I sigh. "For the time being, sit here with Maribelle. I want to take another look at the mansion.".

"What? Why can't I go with you?" He sounds a bit whiny now.

"Because we can't leave Maribelle alone and you have the most firepower out of all of us here." I head for the door. "So keep her safe, got it?"

I leave before Ricken can complain more.

…

Even with that being said, I'm not quite sure exactly what I'm gonna _do_ out here.

_You can snipe. Maybe you could clear the mansion?_

I probably should, but I don't think I could do it after those guys wise up to people dying when they're near windows.

…I suppose I should just watch the mansion like I said I would.

_It's a mildly large house with large-ass windows. What are you planning to gain by observing it?_

…

Welp, there's the house, in all of its slightly run-down splendor.

_It's made of not-wood._

How very astute.

_There doesn't seem to be any guards posted on the outside._

Implying that the asshats weren't looking to occupy the house. This is probably not good for everyone inside the house that isn't on their side.

_If we take too long thinking of what to do next there's a very good chance that they'll kill the entire household and move on. We did kind of kill the guy giving them money._

Oops.

Uh…well, shit. Let's just stare through a telescope that doubles as a scope for a few more minutes.

_OY_

…

I don't see any movement from the windows I can see. I wonder if that means the house is empty.

Hmm…

Focus spell power, load one nail…half power…

_FVOOM~ Hit on window. It's shattered into pieces now._

Wait for it…wait for it…

…

…

It's been a minute. Nothing. No reaction from inside the house at all.

So the house is either totally deserted or the…oh wait, nevermind. One of the would-be bad guys is looking out the window with his sword drawn.

Except the people that gathered on account of the broken glass just saw him and probably have called the guards.

…

Oh shit I didn't think this through, did I?

_And now we're hoping that the guards are corrupt and in league with the Plegian attackers so the asshats inside don't panic and kill everyone…no, I don't think we thought this through at all._

…

"Ash, what did you do?" Maribelle asked with a sigh the instant I opened the door back to the hiding room.

I'm very, very tempted to lie through my teeth on this one.

"I watched the mansion for any movement." I say.

"And?" Ricken asked eagerly. There's someone sitting beside him that I don't recognize.

"And there's a suspicious lack of movement. I think they're all waiting for something." I sit.

Ooh, water.

"So, can we take back my home?" Maribelle asked, shooting a glance at the mystery man.

"My men should be able to overwhelm the Plegian ruffians with no issue." He says proudly.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I am just a mercenary captain, good sir." He said with a slight bow. "The proprietor of the store informed me that our fair lady is in need of our services, and my men are here to help in any way we can."

_The owner of this place knows Maribelle pretty well, remember?_

Would explain why she opted to look for some outside help. Can't help but feel like this is really too convenient though.

_What, where people trip over themselves trying to help you? It comes with having money and influence._

"I see. Much obliged; we need all the manpower we can get." Though to be honest I'm pretty relieved; Ricken sucks at melee and I'm not that much better, and storming a house is a close quarter combat thing.

I kind of wish I worked out the whole magical melee combat thing by now, though.

_You only had time for one project._

"Ash?" Ricken asks.

"What's up?" _Slang._

"Uh…" Ricken blinks. "Nevermind; can we take back the mansion now?"

"Eh…might be a bit tough; the place has attracted some attention due to broken windows." The ones I jumped out of, definitely not the ones I broke a few minutes ago. Nope.

Maribelle why are you looking at me like that

"That shouldn't be a problem; the guards know who we are." The mercenary captain said proudly.

_Possible red light._

If the guards are compromised, then this band might be compromised as well.

…

Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

"Alright, then I'll let you guys spearhead the operation." I say, with a remarkable tone of command, if I do say so myself.

"We won't fail you, sir." The mercenary captain grins.

_Beware of backstabbing…_

Beware of paranoia, too.

…

…

The mansion's outside is…not exactly deserted. There's a few people milling about, hoping to catch something interesting.

There are no guards, though.

_They probably just dispersed the curious and then left._

Probably.

"Looks like the coast is clear." Ricken said from next to me.

We're on the roof, hiding. The mercenary captain is with us, too.

_Us being…_

Me, Ricken, Maribelle.

_Whatever happened to her being too injured?_

Having her around is just generally safer for her and for us, since she can heal and we, y'know, can't.

"Shall we move in then, sir?" The mercenary captain said with a whisper.

_You don't know his name still._

Every time I asked he would turn the conversation in a different direction.

_How curious._

"Go." Ricken said with a nod.

The captain nods and whistles.

…

The people milling around outside the mansion draw their weapons and charge into the mansion's door with a loud bang.

…

Gotta give them props, these guys know what they're doing.

"Shall we?" The captain's grinning.

We drop from the roof and head into the mansion.

…

Wow, this place is…not as trashed as I thought it was. The interior isn't exactly in stellar shape due to having two bands of very violent people charging through it, but on the whole it lacks the looting and ransacking that I expected from the pro-Plegia group.

I can hear the sound of combat from a distance away.

_Meaning the Plegian folk were all concentrated in one room; you'd think they would've ran away at this point._

Yeah. Something's up.

"Captain, go see to your men." I say.

He looks at me in surprise, grins, and the leaves.

_Huh. I was expecting more resistance._

Yeah.

"I suppose the danger has passed now." Maribelle sighed. "Honestly, these men have no class at all."

"Which ones, the Plegian guys or the mercenaries?" Ricken asks, while we head upstairs after the captain.

"Both." She huffs.

…

The door to the room is wide open, to nobody's surprise, I think…

Let's see…

All the servants are gathered here. They look a tad beaten up but seem to be fine on the whole.

_I was expecting more violence toward the womenfolk._

I guess they were polite assholes?

Either way, what's left of the Plegian men are being held at sword point by the mercenaries.

The giant blood splatter that is the remnants of the enemy captain and some of the more curious baddies are still on the ground.

_That's probably never going to wash out._

"Sir, he was like this when we arrived." One of the men said apologetically, gesturing toward the headless Plegian body.

Ricken frowned. "That's…quite impressive."

"Did I miss something?" I mutter.

"Ah, of course." The captain said with a bow. "Our orders were to take the enemy alive if possible, per Lady Maribelle's orders."

Oh.

…oh well.

_Zero remorse?_

Zero remorse.

"Captain, what should we do about them?" One of the friendly mercenaries asked, pointing to the Plegian men.

"Please! Spare us! We'll do anything you say!" One of the Plegian men blurted out in utter terror.

While staring at Maribelle.

…

Are Fire Emblem citizenry superstitious? Because if Maribelle existed in the real world and people's heads suddenly exploded she'd be labeled a witch.

_I think they would be: magic exists but it's pretty cleanly defined to do only a handful of things._

Maribelle gave me an odd look. "Why did you target me?" She demanded from the soldier.

"I don't know your ladyship; we were just paid for the job!" The man said.

"Very handsomely too." One of his friends muttered before getting a jab in the ribs.

"And so you followed your boss to kidnap a noble regardless of the hordes of guards that try to stop you?" I ask.

"Our ex-captain" Oh, so he's an ex-now? "said that the guards wouldn't raise a finger; they were too deep in…the pockets of someone."

_You shot him. That kind of makes him an ex._

"Someone? Who?" Maribelle asks.

"I don't know, your ladyship."

Hmm…I guess it's pretty pointless to interrogate the small fry.

"What happened to your captain?" Our Mercenary Captain asked.

"We…we don't know either. One minute he was standing by the window and the next moment his head exploded."

_That would be our handiwork._

Let's see…

Wow, that is disgusting.

I'm gonna pretend I can't see the vivid detail that is an exploded head.

And…the father is right there. Complete with a knife in his chest.

"What were the two of them talking about before they died?" I ask.

"Sir?"

Were none of them here when they talked?

"The two of them." I gesture to the headless captain and Maribelle's dead father. "What were they talking about before they died?"

"I…" Ok, shifty eyes.

The mercenary captain rests his sword near the man's neck. "His lordship asked you a _question, _Plegian."

"They were…that man" he points to Maribelle's dad "wanted to sell her" he points to Maribelle "as a gift for joining Plegia."

…

_That's bad, right?_

"My father would never do such a thing." Maribelle snapped quickly.

"I'm telling the truth! I swear upon" He bites the last word.

Yeah, swearing upon Grima wouldn't be very helpful at a time like this.

"Where does your loyalty lie, mercenary?" I ask him.

He stares in terror at me.

"With your captain, or with money?"

"With money, sir." He says after a moment and a calming breath.

Hmm…

_He could be lying._

Yeah, but there's literally zero gain for him to lie right now.

"Ash, don't tell me you believe this nonsense." Maribelle's…going to be very, very angry at me.

Also I saw the two talk before her dad got shanked, so there's that.

"I see no reason for him to lie about this."

OW

FUCK

DUDE

"I see." Maribelle taps her parasol over her shoulder like it's a baseball bat. "Any other insights you wish to share with me?"

I don't see how she needs to be protected. Like, at all.

Also I'm just begging for a second hit at this point.

"Ricken, what happens to the county when its ruling lord dies?" I ask him. Because I really don't know.

"Huh, uh…" He thinks for a bit. "The title is passed to the next living family member."

Which would be Maribelle's mother, I take it.

…

"Where is she, anyways?"

"Who?"

"Your mother."

Maribelle looks around, and then points her parasol into one of the Plegian Merc's faces. She doesn't even need to say anything.

"She escaped that way!" The man points frantically to a broken window. "We stopped watching her for a second and she fled!"

_Explains the shadow we barely saw._

What shadow? I saw no shadow.

"Did you send any men to pursue?" I ask.

"No sir, our orders were to capture the lady. But when our captain died…" Their drive to kidnap died with him.

How nice of them.

Maribelle's still scowling hard.

"Uh…Mari, you're kind of scaring the" OH HOLY SHIT I really shouldn't have done that.

"What. Did. You."

_I imagine she's not in the best of mood right now._

Yeah, I kind of got that. Mother of god that thing hurts.

_Maybe she sharpens her parasol._

"Sorry, sorry." I rub my leg. I'm very glad she didn't opt for a stab. "But, uh, judging by your reaction your mother isn't the 'run away from danger' type."

"Damn straight. We're a family of nobles, after all." Maribelle sneers.

_That didn't sound like your everyday fire emblem language._

"What shall we do with them, sir?" The mercenary captain asked after a minute.

"Mercy!" The Plegian mercenary said after meeting eyes with Maribelle.

I don't blame him.

I wave at our Mercenary captain to tell him to get his sword away from the man.

"What will you do if we let you leave?" I ask him.

"We swear that we will never enter Ylissean lands again! Upon my family's honor!" Nice to see he found something else to swear on instead.

But that isn't what I'm looking for.

The man yelps when a puff of fire ignites very, very close to his face.

I'm glad I have my spell book.

"I doubt you became a mercenary for the thrill of combat." I say. The man nods furiously.

_Is that a yes or a no?_

"Thus, I am asking you. What will you do if we let you go?" Ignore the sound of Maribelle impatiently tapping her parasol against her shoulder…by the way: it is now blatantly clear where Brady got his behaviors from.

"We will…" The man looks like he wants to say something, but can't.

"Plegia is not known for its hospitality, sire." The Mercenary Captain said. "If they were to go home then the only course of action for these men would be to continue working as mercenaries…or worse."

"Sir!" Wow they sound desperate.

_Y'know…_

I'm worried about how loyal they would be if they are offered a bigger paycheck, but that being said…if they gave up on their captain so quickly their paycheck must've been pretty small.

Plus, I don't have the money to support a mercenary troop and keep them paid.

"Ash." Maribelle said. "If you are unable to carry out your duties toward Ylisse, then I will."

"I'm sure." I sigh. "Remember that there's a Plegian army marching here in a few days, too." I look at the Plegian man. "How do you think your own forces will treat you?"

"Like trash." Another (older) man grumbled. "Plegian mercenaries hired by the army is expendable; why do you think we were out here to begin with?"

To make some money without dying, I suppose.

"Do you have family?" I ask softly.

The older man chuckled in response.

"I've heard enough." Ricken said with a sigh. "What's wrong with killing a few Plegians that their own countrymen won't miss?"

Whoa, wait. Wait.

"That's a very harsh thing to say, Ricken." I'm surprised as hell that you would say it.

"Well, it's the facts." Ricken said, wind swirling around him. "They attack the house and killed Maribelle's father in a cowardly attempt to kidnap her. They don't deserve to live." He nods towards the Mercenary Captain…

Who nods back.

…

"Ricken, that didn't solve any of our problems." I scowl.

He watches the living friendly mercenaries drag the dead enemy ones out of the room. "It didn't look like you were willing to make the decision."

_That's true._

"Besides, if they cared about their family they would've stayed with them." He said bitterly.

_Remember that he's still a kid._

Yeah, but still.

"Ash, enough. You will not protect those who attacked me." Maribelle said with finality.

"Fine, fine." But I still think you've made a huge mistake. "What would happen if this place goes to Plegia?"

"If Plegia takes Themis?" Ricken scratches his head.

"Yeah."

"Themis has extremely rich farmland." Maribelle says proudly. "We produce most of the food for Ylisse."

"If Themis gets taken then Ylisse would lose its export revenue, I think." Ricken sounds a bit unsure. "Sorry, I didn't pay all that much attention in class."

Which means Themis is a major port, if we're talking foodstuffs being transported without refrigeration…

_Which means Themis produces non-perishable goods for export. C'mon man, pay attention._

"Themis has sea access, right?" I ask Maribelle.

She nods. "Themis has the largest trading port in Ylisse." She then scowls. "If Plegia takes it then we'll be cut off from the sea."

Of course, we could just cut the middle man and go straight into chapter five, and then snipe Gangrel before the war even begins.

_I don't think that will actually end the war. Hell, it might even galvanize the Plegians._

Probably.

"So what do we do?" Ricken asked.

"I shall protect my home, with any means I see fit." Maribelle said proudly.

"So you're not going to leave? Ylisstol's pretty good this time of year." I say idly.

She shoots me a dirty look.

"With my father gone and my mother missing, I am now the lady of Themis. I will not abandon my people in their time of need." She says, standing proud and tall.

This means we're looking at a major skirmish before chapter five rolls around.

This is honestly not on the brochure of things I expected to see while time travelling, but what the hell.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

"Can we send a message back to Ylisstol for reinforcements?" I ask.

"I don't think they'll make it in time though." Ricken sighed as he left the room.

"You could deliver the message yourself." Maribelle said.

"I would, but then I would miss the action." I shrug.

"Pardon?"

I look at her square in the eyes. Eye to eye contact makes –me- nervous, not her.

_The perils of being introverted. Also watch out for sappiness._

"I figured you would stay and duke it out." And I expect the town guards to be utterly useless. "I don't feel like leaving a friend to fend for herself."

"I am not some damsel in need of rescue." Maribelle huffed, but she's smiling a little.

_She didn't have a lot of friends, if memory serves. Lissa was like the only person._

"I can tell." I laugh.

Ricken comes in a few seconds later. "I sent a messenger. I don't think we'll be getting reinforcements though, so what's our plan?"

The mercenary captain walks in after him. "Am I to understand that the three of you will be fighting a Plegian army by yourselves?"

Ricken's staying?

What am I thinking…of course he's staying.

"Looks like it." I say lightly.

"I see." The mercenary captain bows and says nothing else.

Ricken snaps his fingers. "Ash! I forgot." He pulls out something from one of his pockets. "This was delivered for you; Miriel wanted me to deliver it. Here." He said with a grin.

I take it.

Fuck yes: it's the scope I ordered.

It's even better than I imagined.

"Looks like you just received a birthday gift." Maribelle said, looking at the idiotic grin on my face.

Oh, you have no idea, Maribelle.

You have no idea.

_That scope won't make you shoot any straighter. You know that, right?_

Shh little voice in my head, don't ruin this for me.

…

…

The Mercenary Captain clears this throat, effectively ruining the moment.

"While I do admire your bravery, princess, might I suggest that you rethink your course of action?" He said with a low bow.

"Prin…I'll have you know that title is restricted only to Lissa, the Princess of Ylisse." Maribelle sounds really…uh, insistent about that.

"Of course, of course. " The man idly adjusts his sword. "Regardless, I believe that having you stay here would be detrimental to my mission, and my salary."

Ricken tugged at his hat. "I paid you to keep Maribelle safe."

"And I do not believe going into a war would consider 'safe'." The mercenary captain sighed.

…

Well, shit.

"To be fair, he's right." I say.

"Ash." Maribelle's not happy.

"Look, in the end, if you want to stay and fight it out, I'm here for you." I raise my hands. "However, he is right. What do we realistically have in this fight?"

"What do you mean?" Ricken asks.

"There's the three of us, maybe the town guards, and maybe these guys." I motion to the mercenaries. "How do you plan to actually fight an army?"

Silence.

"I mean, does Ylisse conscript troops?"

"Conscript?" Ricken doesn't seem to know what that means. I assume no then.

"Basically raising an army regardless if the people want to be a soldier or not."

"Ylisse used to do that, but Emmeryn put an end to it." The Mercenary Captain said.

_In just ten years?_

I imagine a move like that would be pretty easy to accomplish since your everyday villager is not exactly fond of dying.

"Besides, there's not much chance of the common man answering a rally until the enemy is on our doorstep. And by then it would be far too late, considering the current mood of the people…" The captain finished with a tiny chuckle.

"More importantly…" I'm thinking out loud here. "Maribelle's family goes missing, Plegia immediately attacks, the new lord of Themis is forced to levy for a short but bloody battle…"

I look at Maribelle.

"This doesn't look good at all, does it?"

She rolls her eyes.

"How astute of you." Such biting sarcasm. "However, if Plegia occupies Themis, all of Ylisse suffers."

"But if Ylisse has an army instead of a militia, then we can take it back quickly." Ricken murmurs. He then looks at Maribelle. "I think he might be right here; we should report back to Chrom first before doing anything like mobilizing for a war."

_It's entirely possible we're still on rails at this point._

I don't think Plegia is going to mobilize an entire army just for a lone girl, regardless of her station.

…

"Pah. Fine." Maribelle huffs at last. "We'll report back to Chrom. So let's get going now."

Wait…now?

It's the…what time is it.

Dark out.

"It's pretty late right now." Ricken points out. "We won't get very far before we'll have to fight the Risen when they show up."

…

I had actually forgotten about the vapor zombies at this point, wow.

Maribelle grits her teeth. "Yes, yes…we'll leave early tomorrow."

"I shall make the preparations immediately; we'll also handle the patrols for the night, so don't worry about a thing, your highness." The Mercenary Captain sounds a lot like Harrison Ford, come to think of it, it's a little weird.

…

…

So Maribelle decided to wake me up really early today.

With the help of one of her maids.

And a lot of cold water.

_This is like your first shower in this week._

That might be why, actually.

Oh well.

…

So we left the town before the sun had even risen.

Speaking of Risen, there are Risen outside the walls, but they're pretty chill about the whole thing.

About the whole being shot at by guards on top of walls thing.

So we ignored them.

…

Maribelle is also not happy that we're being forced to travel at the same speed as the Mercenary group.

Y'know, since we're on horseback and all of them are on foot (with the exception of the captain).

"I can't see why we can't just leave them behind." Maribelle had said during lunch.

"All we know about Plegia is that they have an army around here somewhere." Ricken said.

"It seems a little weird for them to be coming at us from the direction of Ylisse." I'm not quite sure how that would work.

"I agree…however, I don't think we would've expected Plegia to assault the lord of a town…" The Mercenary Captain said.

…Point to him, I suppose.

…

[Three days later]

…

FUUUCK THIS IS SLOW

Oh. Wandering Risen.

Good.

DEATH TO ALL OF YOU BECAUSE I'M BORED

_No, we're not going insane at all._

…

"Sir, I have something to report." I hear the captain say to Ricken.

"What is it?" Ricken was busy wiping his sword clean.

_Whoa wait what?_

I know, right? Ricken knows how to handle a blade. Not on the same level as the mercenaries, obviously, but he does use it to complement his magic.

In that he blasts the unfortunate Risen with a shot of wind to stagger it and then runs it through with his sword. The overall damage output is pretty…uh, not very good, considering how often we had to bail him out of a near-death situation, but the morale benefits of watching a small child go toe to toe with a zombie is pretty huge.

I guess Chrom's leadership qualities rubbed off on him.

"The landscape up ahead is unpleasant." The captain said, gesturing to the…rolling plains dotted with trees up ahead.

_That is the most nonsensical bullshit reason I have ever heard._

Apparently Ricken agrees. "What does that mean?"

"It means the captain has a bad feeling, kid." One of the mercenary underlings said in passing.

"It still is the fastest way to Ylisse from here. The choice is yours." The Captain shrugged and left.

"Ash, what do you think?" Ricken asked once he noticed me listening in.

"I think I would love to have a Pegasus at this point; have the mercenaries deploy some scouts, I suppose?" I'm not quite sure what we could do about it.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Ricken nods. "Hey! Hey captain!" and runs off to catch the man.

…

…

I can see what he meant by a bad feeling.

…

No, no I really can't. It's like flat grassland with orchards on either side of the main path. We must be pretty close to a village or a manor for there to be agriculture all the way out here, and there's a little devastation damage due to Risen.

But I don't see how this would be dangerous for us.

_What did we say about tempting fate?_

…

Ah…fuck.

I draw my sword. I can't hit worth shit on horseback anyways.

"Expecting trouble?" The captain asked.

"Not really. Just read too many stories." I laugh.

Which is true: I'm basing my real life assessment of the situation on stories with plot progression.

_I think we've gone full meta at this point._

…

And now I'm on the ground.

What the hell?

…

From behind the orchards…

Fucking Plegians.

…

They were dressed like the farmers.

_Gotta give them points for effort._

How long have they been planning this?

_Look closer._

The clothing of the men…are disheveled and obviously torn in several places. So they did this really fucking fast…unbelievable.

"Captain! What are you doing?!" Maribelle demanded.

"Fulfilling my contract." The captain said with a laugh. "I'm very glad Plegia is paying me extra for putting up with your shit."

Maribelle is incensed.

Ricken pulls out his spellbook.

I'm still on the ground. I fell off my horse, ok?

_You were shot off your horse. In case you didn't realize due to the adrenaline, your right side is pretty burnt._

"Then…" Ricken is scowling.

"You got it, kid. We were in it from the start." The mercenary captain laughed. "I gotta tell ya, I don't know who those idiots were when they hit the house but they sure as hell made it easier on us."

_The men were Plegian, right?_

They certainly seemed like it.

_That means there's a faction war in Plegia that we can probably take care of._

That's a little too long term right now, brain.

"Well, I imagine they would've made our jobs easier had it not been for you." The captain said, looking at me as I get back on my feet. "An unreasonably powerful wizard indeed, to have predicted an ambush…"

_Wait, this means he wanted us to take a secondary path._

Which meant…they assaulted, cleaned up, and dressed up within the timespan of an hour or so?!

"You give me too much credit." I smile for effect. "What do you want out of all this?"

"Me? Just a nice bonus with my salary." He shrugs. "I'm a professional, you know? No hard feelings. I think Plegia wants something else entirely though." He grins and gestures to a man in a large black cloak.

What is it with Plegia and stuffy-looking cloaks?

"Our terms are simple." The very young-sounding man said. I wasn't expecting what was essentially a college freshman under that getup. "Give us the lady of Themis, and we'll leave the land alone."

…

That is total bullshit, if they weren't holding all the cards.

"That sounds like the dumbest deal I've ever heard." Maribelle huffs.

The cloaked man…kid, bristles. You need thicker skin, dude. "It is the concession that Grima is willing to give."

I can't take him seriously at all. Not with that voice of his. Not even when we're surrounded by like sixty people.

_Imagine a poorly acted amateur video with a guy that isn't used to acting at all, and you'll get the picture._

"You can either agree to come with us, or be dragged off by force." The Kid-in-a-blanket said.

"My men will guarantee your safety, princess." The Mercenary Captain said with a small bow. "Should you decide to come with us…"

"Please do resist." One of the soldiers muttered. "We can do whatever we want if you do."

Well, that's not foreboding at all.

Maribelle gives the kid-in-a-blanket her most savagely withering upturned-nose look. "So be it, child." I think she's actually younger than he is. "So long as you leave my fair county unharmed."

The kid visibly relaxes. "Upon Grima and our honor, we will." Some of the soldiers groan. "I know not what my king plans for you, but rest assured it will be great."

"I'm sure." Maribelle said scathingly, riding forward…

Then turns her head and catches my eye, with the barest of a smirk.

_We're back on the rails now, isn't that wonderful?_

I am way too happy about all of this.

…

…

Ricken and I ride a little slowly onwards.

Largely because Ricken is a little paralyzed by the whole thing.

…

[Night]

…

So…the night started off ok.

We stopped at a roadside inn.

Well, more of a farm-inn mix.

And then Ricken…I guess, snapped, I dunno.

Either way he's pinned me against stable wall with his sword at my neck.

_You seem pretty ok with this._

I'm a little too surprised to be panicked, to be honest.

He also seems to be mumbling something under his breath.

"Uh…dude? If you had any great ideas on how we could've broken out of that surround back there, I'd love to hear it." I say.

His response is a blast of cutting wind to my face.

_That might not have been the best thing to say._

You think?

At least he took the sword off of my neck.

"It doesn't bother you?" Ricken said after a few minutes, sounding like he picked something diplomatic to say only after great difficulty.

_In order words, what we just heard was WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING_

As spoken by a kid, yeah. "It does. I would love to just murder the shit out of all of them." I take a deep breath. "But Maribelle put the safety of Themis over her life."

Holy shit wrong thing to say.

Dodge the second blast of wind.

"Let me finish." Jesus Christ. "She knew what she was getting into, and it's going to be our job to get her out of this idiotic mess."

Ricken isn't convinced.

I sigh. "Look. If you have any bright ideas about how we can play the hero, I'd love to hear it. I really do. Right now though? This is reality. We don't have the manpower to take her back unharmed, and we're going to Ylisse to get that manpower. Alright?"

"You could've done something." He's…very accusing with his tone.

"And what would've happened, pray tell?" I sound exasperated, probably because I am.

Silence.

"They were willing to kill off god knows how many people to get this plan in motion." I…have just come to realization with that fact. "Correction, they killed off god knows how many people to get the plan into motion. It's fair to say that if we had actively resisted there would be two dead mages and a very unhappy Maribelle."

_That's putting it amazingly lightly._

Ricken takes a deep, and I mean DEEP, breath. "When we talk to Chrom though I'm going to be the first one to get her out of there."

_Wherever there might be._

"That's the spirit." I smile.

He reluctantly grins in return. "Sorry about, the, uh." He gestures in my general direction.

"No worries."

…

[Later that Night]

…

_Still up?_

Still up.

_Sheesh…what should we do about chapter five?_

Better question: why did they go so far for Maribelle?

_She's not really important as far as the plot goes; this invasion into Themis is pretty much a cause for war on its own._

It is, but I guess "well we wanted a girl so we invaded a country" isn't exactly a great rallying flag.

_Maybe she has something special that the Grimleal could use? Like Robin?_

Apart from the breadbasket that is called Themis, I don't know.

_It's entirely possible that they…how much does she have over her county anyways?_

Uh…it's Medieval Times, so assume a fair amount…

_It's entirely possible they might use her as a political leverage to turn Themis into a Plegian holding. You can get a lot done with mind control and strong arming, especially when information denial is added into the mix._

I am just thinking out of my ass at this point.

_Here are some illustrated possibilities of total and utter insane conspiracy theories that Plegia might be trying_

GO. TO. SLEEP.

_Here are some_

UUUUGH

…

[Next day]

…

The next two days passed with us riding as hard as we possibly can towards Ylisstol.

Since we had used the "shortest possible path" as suggested by the Mercenary captain (whose advice I'm starting to doubt) we came to the…

Well, I came to the conclusion and didn't tell Ricken

We came to the conclusion that the messenger must have either been intercepted or wasn't keen on delivering the message to begin with. Which means nobody at the castle knows what's going on.

Which means we're booking it home, to the detriment of our horses.

…

[Next day, again]

…

Castle Ylisstol! Oh how I missed that magnificient looking wall! Finally, we can have someone to talk to again!

_Ricken didn't count?_

I don't think he trusted himself to keep his temper under control if he opened his mouth, so our trip for the past two days has been very silent.

…

Is it just me, or does the castle town feel more…subdued, than before?

Almost like there's something missing.

"Ash! Ricken!" I hear Fredrick call out.

Turn. He's riding in on his armored horse along with Sully, Stahl, and a handful of the rapid response cavalry.

"Fredrick, good to see you."

"Indeed. Pardon my lack of pleasantries, but why is Lady Maribelle not with you?" He sounds…very worried.

_The "oh shit" alarm is going off now._

"It's…why, what happened here?" Ricken's frown tells me he's thinking along the same lines I am.

"Damn." Fredrick shook his head. "Let's get back to the castle; I fear the worst."

Uh…

Fredrick?

We're a little on edge right now.

Can we not have more bad news please?

…

…

"Here." Fredrick motioned ushered us into a room in the shepherd barracks.

Something feels very, very wrong here.

Also there's Donnel, getting some tips on weapon usage from Vaike of all people.

_Mood whiplash much? Pay attention._

"Ok, what happened to Maribelle?" Fredrick demanded as soon as the door closed.

Hmm…start from the top, then.

…

…

…

"I see…and do you know why Plegia had made such a brazen move?" Fredrick asked with a scowl after I finished explaining.

"I have some guesses, but that's all they are." I shake my head.

"Well, at the very least, we're in luck there." Fredrick sighed. "Yesterday afternoon a suspicious group was seen travelling very quickly to the Plegian border…it's fair to say that this is the group we're referring to." He then raised hand to stop Ricken from interrupting. "we've already tasked the Pegasus Knights to look into it; odds are, Chrom will be moving in two days."

Two

"Why not tomorrow?" Ricken and I demand.

"Because things haven't gone smoothly on this end either." Robin said from the doorway. "Pardon the intrusion."

Fredrick gives a noncommittal shrug.

"What do you mean?" I'm now a mixture between worried, confused, and terrified.

"Chrom was injured during a patrol a few days ago; it'll take him a little while to get back on his feet."

Ricken shot up and left the room in a _serious_ hurry.

"I don't blame him." Fredrick sighed. "If you'll excuse me." He got up and left the room as well.

Something doesn't add up here.

"Ash, what was supposed to happen this time in the timeline?" Robin asked once she shut the door.

Uh…

"Maribelle was supposed to go to somewhere close to the Plegian border and get kidnapped for her troubles." I'm squeezing my eyes shut, trying to remember the original plot without any embellishments.

"And you went to make sure it happened?" She said lightly.

"I went to make sure it didn't happen." I snarled a little harder than I intended there. "But obviously I came up short."

_A lot harder than you intended._

"I see." Robin sounded slightly apologetic. "And what happens after that?"

Uh…

"The Shepherds mobilize to save her when Plegia decides to use her as a bargaining chip and declares war." I think that's how it went.

"That's…" Robin sighs. "I see."

"So explain to me why Chrom needs to rest for two days instead of getting patched up by Lissa?"

Robin froze.

…

Shit.

"What happened to Lissa?"

"Uh…" Robin shifts nervously.

"Robin. Don't make me find out from someone else. What. Happened?"

Robin takes a deep breath. "Lissa went missing shortly after we realized that Chrom had been injured. We have reason to believe that she was…taken."

Taken.

_Take some DEEP breaths now._

Taking them.

"Ash, what are you-" She gets to say before I charge out of the room.

_Dude._

I am calm.

_Dude._

I…am…CALM!

.

.

.

{ === + === }

And finally we come to chapter 5.

I'm not going very fast am I...


End file.
